Undone
by FalllingPetals
Summary: After his death at Pein's hands and a lecture from a long-dead teammate, Hatake Kakashi finds himself three and a half years back in time to when his students are still new genin. Armed with the knowledge of what will happen, he seeks to prevent the disasters and unfortunate events that happen along the way, particularly preventing Team 7 from falling apart.
1. Chapter 1

**Undone**

 **Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

 _Keep the past, for all intents and purposes, where it is._

* * *

 _So this is what it feels like to die. It's surprisingly painless._

He was in an endless dark void. It was like everything around him had been reverted into nothingness after that last Kamui he used to stop the Asura Path from killing the Akimichi boy. Well, not nothingness per se. It was like the entire place was made out of different rectangular blocks. Despite all their different sizes, the blocks fit together well and made a solid ground for him to stand on.

"Quite boring here, isn't it?" came a sudden voice from beside him, sounding very familiar and quite disappointed. "You're not going to sulk forever, right?"

 _"Rin."_

"Obito would be _so_ angry at you if he found out that the eye he gave you ended up killing you," the girl breathed, rolling her eyes. "And you just _had_ to use up all your chakra in the end. How many times have I told you to _take it easy_ _and wait_ before rushing into battle and exerting all your chakra? I always thought you hated the hospital. Why would you do something so stupid like that and land yourself in there for _weeks_?"

"Er..."

That was Nohara Rin for you. 50% medic. 50% caring. 100% Mom-like. She always managed to leave him wordless.

"And Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee too. They always scolded you for using flashy techniques that contributed to all that dizziness and faint-headedness you suffered from after missions. I can't believe that _this_ is the reason you died even after everything we told you about!"

She finished her lecture with a jab at his chest, the frown on her face causing the purple marks on her cheeks to shift.

It wasn't until then that Kakashi realized he was much shorter. If he were at his full adult height, Rin would only have been able to reach his stomach at best.

"Well, um, I'm- uh, sorry," he managed to get out, trying his darn best to not look in her direction. It was a habit developed after years of doing missions with her. Rin was _scary_ when she was angry.

"But I'm just glad that I get to see you after waiting for so many years!" she cried out happily, throwing both of her arms around him and hugging him.

Kakashi didn't know what to say at this point. He could easily tell her to get off and stop smothering him, but that was quite rude considering the current situation. Especially after he had been the one to end her life in the first place. He wanted to say, "Me too," but every time that thought came into mind he felt a lump form in his throat.

He never quite got over his teammates' deaths. But he had finally started to sleep peacefully after receiving Team 7 as the genin team he had to mentor. Saying "Me too" meant admitting to himself that he had cried himself to sleep every night for _years_ after the traumatic experience of Rin's death.

"Oh, stop pulling that long face, Kakashi!" she said, finally letting go of him and stepping back, still grinning from ear to ear. "It wasn't your fault. _I_ was the one who leapt onto your attack. If you keep on sulking over that, none of us will be happy."

"By _us_ do you mean Obito and the others?"

"Of course I do! But stubborn Obito's never showed up ever since I got here. It's like he doesn't want to appear until you're here too."

"So I'm dead?"

It was a pretty obvious question. Why else would he be seeing somebody that had passed away nearly two decades ago?

"You definitely act like you are, but that doesn't mean you are."

"What?"

Rin seemed to sober at this, the smile on her face vanishing as she glanced down at the ground.

"The eye. The Sharingan that Obito gave you. You developed it into a Mangekyō, right?"

"Right. But what does that have to do with-"

"It lets you warp time, right?"

"I know it warps _space_ , but I'm not sure about time," he replied, puzzled.

"Well, it does let you warp time. Let that sink in for a while."

At first, Kakashi had no idea what she was talking about.

Then it hit him.

"You mean I traveled back through time?"

"Only if you want to. The fact that you're in here means that you haven't decided on a destination yet. It's like your brain only wanted you to be out of danger but didn't make a decision on where you want to go."

"So you're telling me that I can go back to any time I choose now?"

"Yes."

Kakashi blinked. "How do you know so much?"

For a brief moment, Rin's face darkened. Then just as quick as it had happened, the look disappeared.

"I have my ways," she replied hastily, suddenly turning around to look at one of the oddly-shaped prisms a few feet away from them.

"But can I just die and go with you?"

The question came out so fast that even Kakashi himself was surprised. Now that he blurted that out, he realized that this really was something he wanted.

He had spent nearly three decades serving his village; lived through one major war. A career of nearly twenty-seven years, to be exact. One year in the Academy. One year as a genin. Six years as a chūnin. Two years of being a jōnin. More than ten years in Anbu. And after getting assigned as Team 7's jōnin-sensei, six more years as a jōnin.

Throughout these years, he had grown from a child to a man. He had cried plenty of tears, seen countless numbers of comrades die, and suffered so many injuries, both major and minor, that he had lost count a long time ago.

And he had thought, "Enough," just as many times.

There was actually a time he had been on the verge of signing away at the Shinobi Retirement Form that the Hokage had given to him.

Maybe death really was a better choice?

And Konoha was already doomed with Pein's attack if Naruto didn't arrive. His two options were to either return to a village that had already been brought to ruins or go down in history as one of the numerous names etched onto the Memorial Stone.

 _Smack!_

A slap to the cheek.

Rin was shaking her head at him, her hand still raised after coming into contact with his cheek. Hard.

"That is the stupidest question I've ever heard you ask. And that's saying a lot, considering how big of an idiot you can be at times."

He mumbled a, "Sorry," under his breath as she continued.

"You still have a chance, Kakashi," she began, her voice eerie quiet. "The rest of us, we're all _dead_. Plain dead. No more chances. The only thing we can do now is wait for the day we get reborn and finally get a taste of fresh air once again. But you," she jabbed a finger at him, "you still have a chance. Aren't there things you still care about? Friends? Comrades? _Students_? Have you ever thought about going back through time and _changing_ things?"

"You're telling me to go back through time and save my students?" he asked again, feeling something warm blossom somewhere in his chest.

"Yes. That's exactly what I meant."

"But couldn't I-"

"No. I don't want to be saved," Rin said quite frankly, clasping her hands together behind her back as she spoke. "I was never cut out to be a kunoichi in the first place. I should've just married a good man and lived the rest of my life as a civilian just like my parents planned."

"But you _are_ a good kunoichi. A comrade that saved the rest of your team plenty of times. And you healed so many people. They all showed up at your-"

Kakashi clapped a hand over his mouth. Exactly how stupid was he, mentioning her funeral at a time like this?

Rin shook her head. "Either way, my time is over. But you still have time."

And all of a sudden, the world was spinning around him, warping around just like all the objects he had caused to disappear with Kamui.

"Don't mess this up, Kakashi," were the last words he heard before drifting into unconsciousness.

* * *

Kakashi woke with the sharp odor of disinfectant in the air, his Sharingan eye feeling like a drill in his skull, and the general feeling of having just been punched by an Akimichi.

"-just chakra exhaustion. Other than that, he's perfectly fine."

He tilted his head to the side. What he saw didn't surprise him.

It was a medic and the familiar figure of the Hokage, wearing the formal red and white haori as he nodded at the female nurse.

She bowed slightly before backing out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

"So you're awake."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied quietly, struggling to sit up.

His limbs wouldn't respond. It was like that leap from the separate dimension had taken away all of his energy. Judging by the drill-like feeling in his eye socket and what he had heard earlier, it probably had.

Sarutobi held out a hand to stop him and he quickly relaxed, leaning against the pillow.

"I take that you know what I am about to tell you?"

"You're not happy that I knocked myself out via chakra exhaustion again, Sir."

Sarutobi chuckled, pulling over a chair and sitting down after hearing Kakashi's reply.

"Yes, Kakashi. A perfect summarization of what I was about to say."

"But you have another reason to be here today," Kakashi added, tilting his head slightly to the side.

"Yes. You should be aware that another class of genin graduated this year."

"You want me to take on a genin team." It wasn't a question.

"You're being quite direct today, but yes. I think the one that will attract the most attention from you is Uzumaki Naruto, the current jinchūriki of the Kyūbi and your teacher's-"

"I'll do it," Kakashi immediately blurting out, not even thinking about the consequences.

"You'll do it?" Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, looking at him like he had grown another head.

"Well, I do owe Minato-sensei a lot, so..."

"I understand," Sarutobi nodded, getting up and pushing the seat back against the wall. "I see. But it's nice to let you know anyways. The second one is the last Uchiha, Uchiha Sasuke. The sole female member is Haruno Sakura, the daughter of Haruno Akio."

Kakashi nodded, clutching the bed sheets tightly as the Hokage turned to leave.

"And Kakashi?"

"Yes, Sandaime-sama?"

"Don't be _too_ late for the meeting, okay?"

* * *

The first thing Kakashi did after he was discharged was to rush to the Memorial Stone.

Placing a hand on the name engraved on the stone, he sighed.

"So I died and met Rin. She told me to redo everything, and here I am now. And now I'm going to relive the past three and a half years of my life once again. You must be laughing your ass off right now, Obito," he murmured quietly.

Standing right there, Kakashi made the decision that this time, Team 7 wasn't going to fall apart. He would strengthen Team 7's bonds, prevent Sasuke from leaving Konoha at all costs, and shape them into the strongest team that Konoha had ever produced.

Still, that was a lot to do. There were so many enemies along the line. Orochimaru, Danzō, the Akatsuki, not to mention the other shinobi villages.

And making major changes to the timeline was definitely going to be a bad idea.

Kakashi sighed again, taking his hand off the cool stone and turning around. Well, killing Orochimaru right now wasn't possible anyways...

"Tenzō, you might as well come out of hiding. Your stealth skills are getting rusty," Kakashi chided without even turning around in the direction the man was hiding.

He heard a rustle of leaves, followed by an exasperated sigh.

"It seems that nothing escapes your detection, taichou," he muttered as he walked out, brushing leaves off his Anbu uniform.

"Stop calling me that. I'm not in Anbu anymore," Kakashi replied as he turned around to face the younger man.

"Once an Anbu, always an Anbu. Not to mention that it just slipped out after you criticized my abilities," Tenzō answered, shrugging as he took off his Anbu mask.

"Mmm," Kakashi said absentmindedly as he turned to look in the direction of the Hokage building.

A brief moment of silence followed, with both men not having anything to say.

"How late am I?" Kakashi asked as he caught sight of the Academy building.

"Almost two hours," Tenzō replied with a smile. "I heard some frustrated yelling when I passed by the Academy earlier."

Kakashi remembered the Sandaime's words. "Guess I shouldn't be _too_ late," he muttered to himself as he _shushin_ ed away, leaving behind a slightly startled Tenzō staring at the leaves dancing in the place Kakashi was mere seconds ago.

* * *

Kakashi stood quietly outside the door to the classroom, feeling slightly apprehensive.

He was aware that on the other side, there was a blackboard eraser waiting for him.

He was also aware of what would happen to Team 7. Sasuke would defect from the village, leaving behind a heartbroken Naruto and Sakura. Ultimately, all three would hone their skills under the Legendary Sannin and become powerful shinobi in their own right. Yet Team 7 would never remain the same anymore.

Clenching his hand tightly into a fist, Kakashi silently vowed to prevent the team from falling apart.

He would do anything, _anything_ , to prevent his second team from collapsing. Especially after what had happened with Obito...

On the other side of the door, Kakashi heard bickering. Naruto and Sakura were arguing, with Sasuke occasionally offering a snappy response to Naruto's challenges.

He actually missed this, even though it gave him a headache...

Taking a deep breath, Kakashi opened the door.

 _Trust me, Rin. I swear that I will do this right._

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Time-travel. Something that is desired by many but completely defies the way of the universe.

I myself do not believe in time-travel in real life, though I do find it amusing to toss my favorite characters back through time in their own little fictional universe.

Anybody care to take a guess at who said the quote at the top? If you get it right I'll give you a cookie.

A virtual cookie, that is.

P.S.

This is the second time the chapter has been rewritten. I did this because my friend commented that the first chapter was really boring and made her not want to continue. After a lot of nagging, I finally decided to do it over again. Now both of us are satisfied.

And I watched the Boruto: Naruto the Movie yesterday. To be honest, I was sorely disappointed. Naruto wasn't Naruto. He spent his childhood calling the Sandaime "Grandpa" and the Godaime "Grandma". They let him get away with it. Yet he insists on his son calling him "Seventh-sama" when he is _related_ to Boruto. What have they done with Naruto?

And I am so furious that the _Kote_ was even invented. What's the point of calling yourself a shinobi if you're just firing attacks that you haven't even taken the time to learn? It's like putting dirt on all of the previous generations that earned their power through sweat, blood, and hard work. Starting from Konohamaru's generation, I'll bet that people would begin to reply on the _Kote_ more and more to the point where the process of learning ninjutsu dies off. Which will basically ruin the entire series.


	2. Chapter 2

**Undone**

 **Chapter 2**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Kakashi was greeted with a great variety of reactions as he walked into the classroom.

Nonchalantly plucking the eraser out of his hair and placing it back onto the blackboard, Kakashi turned to look at the group.

"You're two hours late!" Naruto exclaimed loudly, pointing at Kakashi and stomping on the ground to prove his point.

"Maa, I think it's one hour and fifty-nine minutes," Kakashi murmured as he turned to look at the clock.

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but a _hn_ from Sasuke interrupted him.

"He's right, usuratonkachi. Don't disregard the facts," the last Uchiha said evenly with his eyes closed.

Sakura turned to shoot a very affectionate look at the boy before turning to glare at Naruto.

"Listen to Sasuke-kun, you idiot," she said, clenching her right hand into a fist.

Kakashi sighed inwardly. They were exactly the same as the way they were.

Sasuke opened his eyes and turned to look Kakashi up and down, as if assessing him.

"Are you really a jōnin?" he asked with a raised eyebrow, looking as if his time was being wasted.

"I don't know. Am I?" Kakashi asked, holding out both of his arms and gesturing dramatically.

Naruto snorted, pointing to the fallen eraser on the ground.

Kakashi eyed the group with his one eye. A long silence followed.

"My first impression is that I don't like you guys."

Sasuke gave a dismissive _hn_. Sakura looked slightly down. Naruto, on the other hand, jumped out of his seat and was about to retort with something until Kakashi interrupted him.

"Roof. Three minutes," Kakashi commanded quietly before _shunshin_ ing away with a _puff_.

* * *

"Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi. I like a lot of things. I dislike a lot of things. As for dreams of the future..." Kakashi trailed off as he leaned against the railing on the roof, glancing at his genin team.

The first few minutes he spent back together with his genin team for the first time in years, Kakashi instantly realized exactly how _bratty_ they were. Naruto was just loud, Sasuke was way too arrogant for his liking, and Sakura was going to give him a headache if she uttered the words "Sasuke-kun" ever again for the rest of the day.

Still, it was pretty endearing and nostalgic just seeing them sitting together again.

Kakashi gave a small sigh before pointing at Sakura. "Why don't you start, young lady?"

Sakura perked up at this and brushed a strand of pink hair out of her face.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like..." she turned to sneak a glance at Sasuke before giggling.

"I dislike..." she turned around again, this time to look at the blond sitting on next to her with a scowl on her face.

"As for my dreams of the future..." she trailed off, turning around to look at Sasuke again.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. For some reason, he had expected Sakura to be a little less obsessesd with Sasuke and a little more mature. Perhaps it was because he was so used to the sixteen-year old Sakura.

After all, the older version of her was much more capable and more helpful than _this_ one. Sasuke leaving Konoha and Tsunade's training worked wonders.

"And you?" he asked, turning to look at Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen. I dislike Sasuke-teme. My dream is to become the Hokage," Naruto said excitedly as he gestured around at the village, a giant grin on his face.

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully at this. Naruto was still Naruto. Naruto had always been Naruto. It was the way the universe worked. The blond would stay loud, but lovable his entire life, never ceasing to be optimistic and cheerful.

Turning to look at Sasuke, Kakashi frowned. Once an arrogant prick, always an arrogant prick. But then again, Kakashi himself had been an arrogant prick when he was a kid. Maybe he still was one?

"Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like a lot of things. I dislike many things. As for my dream, there's a certain somebody that I seek to kill."

"Mmm," Kakashi mused, fully aware that yes, Sasuke was going to achieve his dream. Well, that was if Kakashi even allowed it to happen this time.

Straightening up and getting off the railing, Kakashi crossed his arms and stared at the group with his good eye.

Much to his amusement, they squirmed under his gaze. This might actually be fun.

Kakashi smirked underneath his mask. Now came the moment when he drilled into them exactly who was in charge. A scolding every once in a while never hurt, especially if the people being scolded were these three.

"The one rule I'd like you three to keep in mind is 'A shinobi must follow their commander's instructions'. Now, Sasuke, would you care to explain exactly why that rule is so important?" Kakashi asked, tilting his head in the Uchiha's direction after he finished his question.

The last Uchiha scowled at this, shooting Kakashi a murderous look before answering.

"A commander knows what's best for the team. Not following your commander's orders can lead to failure of the mission and even the demise of the entire team."

"And?" Kakashi asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"It's a matter of respect," Sasuke ground out through his clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing.

"Good answer. And have you been following this rule lately?" Kakashi continued, noticing the scowl on Sasuke's face intensify.

The prodigy _hn_ ed before turning away from Kakashi.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Graduated at the top of the class in the ninja arts area, but failed miserably when it came to citizenship and participation. Some comments from your teachers include 'rotten attitude', 'failure to participate in class', and 'generally considering that everybody else is inferior to himself'," Kakashi stated evenly, ignoring the sound of Sasuke grinding his teeth together.

"Would it really hurt to just open up a little and communicate with your peers?" Kakashi continued, smiling behind his mask as Sasuke clenched his fists.

Sasuke actually stayed quiet for a while, his two fellow genin all staring at him while he glared at Kakashi.

Then the Uchiha snapped. Pulling a kunai out of his pouch, he lunged for Kakashi, muscles taut as he prepared to attack.

It happened in a blur.

The man simply knocked the kunai out of Sasuke's hand before grabbing the boy by the arm, slamming him into the ground.

Sasuke grunted in pain as Kakashi deftly caught the kunai that fell from the sky, holding it right next to Sasuke's neck.

"Yes, you have talent. But this thing called instinct requires training, battles, and maybe even a war or two to perfect."

Beside the Uchiha, Naruto snickered, muttering, "That's what you get, teme," under his breath.

"I do not approve of my students attacking me," Kakashi murmured quietly as Sasuke tried to squirm out of his grip. "And I also do not approve of my students being offensive towards others, especially their own teammates," Kakashi added, turning to glance at Naruto.

Naruto gulped, obviously caught off guard because he expected Kakashi to scold only Sasuke. Typical Naruto.

"At least Sasuke tried and put effort into his training and studies. While these two," Kakashi swept a hand in Sasuke and Sakura's direction, "actually took their classes seriously, you were running around pulling pranks and defacing Konoha's monuments."

Naruto's mouth dropped into an 'O' shape.

Then he furrowed his brows and quietly looked down at the ground, suddenly really interested in the cracks along the cement.

Satisfied, Kakashi turned away from Naruto and glanced in Sakura's direction.

The girl was shooting an _I-told-you_ look at the blond, but Kakashi was aware that she had never even spoken nicely to him before, let alone actually take her precious time to lecture him.

"Haruno Sakura. Talented, intelligent, and gifted with chakra control," he began, noticing how Sakura smiled and gave a small nod.

"Talented, maybe. Intelligent, sort of. Yes, you are gifted with chakra control. But that doesn't mean anything if you can't hold your own in a melee battle. A shinobi doesn't simply stay in the shadows and fire long-range ninjutsu at the enemy."

Sakura visibly wilted at this, her smile quickly turning into a frown as Kakashi spoke.

"And if you stopped putting so much effort into getting this guy's attention," Kakashi added, jerking a finger at the snarling Uchiha, "you might actually be able to beat your opponents in a spar."

Sakura's lips quivered at this and she grabbed a strand of her hair, glancing at it with an apprehensive look before letting it go, sniffling.

"Hey! Why did you make Sakura cry?" Naruto immediately cried out, pointing a furious finger at Kakashi as tears welled up in her eyes.

"I just told her the facts," Kakashi replied simply despite the feeling of anxiety knowing away at his chest.

Perhaps he was being a little too harsh?

No, he decided. They needed somebody to knock some sense into their heads.

Kakashi glanced at the three genin, all of them bearing different expressions.

Sasuke was scowling, Naruto was angry, and Sakura had a tear trickling down her cheek.

Maybe he _was_ being a little too harsh. Then again, Sasuke hadn't always been smiles and hugs anyways. As for Naruto, he was quick to recover. Sakura, well, she needed the scolding.

An angry _hn_ from Sasuke brought him back to the three genin sitting in front of him.

"You're dismissed. I want you in Training Ground Three at seven o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. Don't eat breakfast," Kakashi commanded before _shunshin_ ing away.

* * *

"How was the first meeting?" Sarutobi asked, blocked from Kakashi's view due to the pile of papers stacked on top of his desk.

"Disappointing," Kakashi replied as he stood in front of the Hokage's wooden desk.

"Are you going to fail them tomorrow?" Sarutobi asked, his pen pausing as he peered at Kakashi over the sheets of paper.

"That depends on their performance," Kakashi replied at the thought of the bell test.

"And if they do pass?" the Hokage asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I'll shape them into the strongest genin team Konoha has ever produced," Kakashi answered evenly, not a shred of apprehensiveness in his voice.

"That's not as easy as it sounds," the older man replied, turning back to his paperwork.

"I'll make it happen," Kakashi said firmly as Sarutobi waved a hand in his direction, indicating he was dismissed.

"I look forward to that," he said quietly as Kakashi left.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stood with their arms crossed in the Third Training Ground of Konoha.

"He has approximately two minutes left. If he shows up even a second late this time, I'll beat the crap out of him!" Naruto exclaimed angrily, punching his fist into the air.

"Tch. Good luck with that," Sasuke muttered under his breath, sending a dismissive glance in the blond's direction.

"There's no need to beat me up. I'm already here," Kakashi drawled as he _shunshin_ ed into the training ground.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Well, it seems that judging from the reviews I'm not the only person who thinks Sasuke shouldn't learn Chidori. He tries killing his former comrades with it way too many times for my liking.

So no overly destructive/OP techniques for the last Uchiha. Even I feel slightly apprehensive at the thought of handing him something that can let him punch a hole through his comrades.

As for Kakashi's little 'lecture', Team 7 needed it. Sasuke kind of established his _I-don't-respect-anybody-that-isn't-from-my-clan_ thing at the beginning of the series. Naruto does respect people, but he still is a little too far on the chummy side. Sakura, well, she needed _somebody_ to criticize her about her Sasuke fangirling. Might as well have Kakashi do it.

And yes, Kakashi was on time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Undone**

 **Chapter 3**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Caught off guard, Naruto jumped on the spot as he saw Kakashi seemingly materialize into the training ground.

"You're actually on time," he cried out, surprised as Kakashi quickly strolled over to stand in front of his students.

"Yes, I'm on time," Kakashi replied evenly, reaching into his pouch and pulling out two silver bells dangling on a piece of red string.

As he did this, he noticed how the attitudes of Team 7 were completely different than yesterday. Rather than looking at him as if he was a joke, Sakura eyed him warily while Naruto seemed less annoying and talkative. Sasuke was his usual self, but it wasn't like the Uchiha would go from brooding emo to smiling, cheerful guy within a day.

"Do you know what these are?" Kakashi asked, dangling the bells in front of his team as they peered curiously at the shiny round objects.

"Bells, obviously," Naruto answered quickly, shooting Kakashi an ' _isn't-it-obvious_ ' look.

"Yes, these are bells, my little students," Kakashi began, shaking them so that they created a pleasant clinking sound. "And these will also be your ticket to becoming shinobi."

Naruto blinked, obviously surprised at his words.

"Care to explain why he isn't officially a shinobi yet, Sakura?" Kakashi singsonged, turning to look at the girl.

Sakura cast him an almost fearful look before murmuring, "H-Hai," under her breath.

"Once a student graduates from the Academy and is assigned to a jōnin-sensei, said jōnin is required to issue another exam of their own, this time to see if the student is actually fit to be a shinobi. Passing will make you officially a genin. Failing can either result in you being sent back to the Academy or dropped out of the shinobi program entirely."

"Thank you for the explanation," Kakashi smiled, turning to grin at Sakura as his eyes curved into inverted U's. Sakura looked like he was going to eat her.

"The chance of failure is usually around 66%, as nearly two-thirds of the graduates are cut off at this point," Kakashi continued, gripping the bells tightly in his hand. "There are twenty-seven graduates in this year's class, meaning that eighteen will be cut off, leaving only nine genin. Three teams. This test is relatively easy to understand. Get the bells before noon. I don't care what methods you use, just get the bells. You can use your kunai, your shuriken, taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, anything."

Sakura seemed to relax slightly at this, her shoulders sagging as she released the tension in her body. Something that resembled a smirk appeared on Sasuke's face. It was obvious. He was feeling that this would be easy, that it would be simple, and that he would definitely ace it.

"It also comes with a catch," Kakashi added, letting his gaze sweep over the group. "No bells, no lunch. I believe that none of you ate breakfast today, correct?"

They only stared back at him. Surely not getting any food wasn't that extreme, right?

"Not passing this exam also means that I'll fail you entirely. Unlike the other jōnin, I will personally go to the Hokage and request that you be dropped out of the program if you can't do this," Kakashi finished, ignoring the gasp of surprise that came from Naruto.

Sasuke, on the other hand, silently retrieved a kunai from his pouch and positioned himself so that he faced the cluster trees, enabling him to get cover as soon as Kakashi called go.

Sakura quickly followed suit, pulling a kunai and a shuriken out of her pouch, gripping one tightly in each hand.

Naruto remained quite still.

"Am I clear?" Kakashi continued, taking the bells and tying them to his kunai pouch, making sure that the knot was secure.

A look of surprise crossed Sakura's face, and she turned to look at Kakashi.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked, nodding in her direction without looking up from his bells.

"Well, um, there are only _two_ bells. But there's three of us..." she trailed off, looking at Naruto and Sasuke as she spoke.

"That is also something for you to keep in mind. There are only two bells. Only two can pass. Think about it for a moment," Kakashi answered nonchalantly, finishing with the knot on his pouch and turning back to look at the three.

Naruto only stood there, crossing his arms and giving Kakashi a curious look.

Sasuke sighed at this and grabbed the blond by the arm, his fingers digging into Naruto's flesh.

"What?" Naruto ground out, obviously annoyed.

"We're doing this together," Sasuke said simply, pointing his kunai at the jōnin.

"Whaddya mean?" Naruto asked, surprised.

"A genin team consists of a three-man squad. Failing one student and keeping only two doesn't make any sense," Sasuke hissed back, scowling.

"Hasn't it happened before?" Naruto asked despite knowing that the question was stupid. He just wanted to annoy Sasuke.

"Yes. And those teams either turned out to be defective or were disbanded shortly after," Sasuke replied icily, obviously irritated with the blond.

"So you're telling me that he would have to pass all three of us?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Sasuke said simply, turning to look in Kakashi's direction.

The man seemed to be staring off into space as the two boys argued.

"Failing means we get dropped out of the program entirely," the Uchiha reminded as Naruto frowned.

"And if this doesn't work out, one of us will be completely dropped out of the program," Naruto shot back, glaring.

"What does your gut tell you?" Sasuke asked simply, twirling the kunai in his hand as he spoke without looking at Naruto.

Naruto considered this for a moment.

"Fine," the blond replied reluctantly, "but this doesn't mean we're going to be friends or anything of the sort."

"Not like I'd want to anyways," Sasuke snapped back, glaring daggers.

"Are you guys done yet?" Kakashi asked absentmindedly from behind them, sounding very calm for somebody who was probably going to fail all of his students.

"Are you sure?" Naruto suddenly asked again, pulling a kunai out of his pouch.

Sasuke only _hn_ ed and rolled his eyes, this time deciding to completely ignore the other boy.

"All set," Kakashi murmured under his breath. _Hopefully they wouldn't screw this up._

"Begin!"

Three genin dashed off into the trees.

 _Naruto didn't stay and attack. That's a good sign._

* * *

"You distract. I attack," Sasuke stated simply as the three crouched behind a cluster of trees, peering through the leaves at their sensei, who was simply standing there and seemingly admiring the weather.

"Sakura," the Uchiha added, pointing at the girl. "Just try to stay out of trouble and throw kunai."

Naruto decided to bite back his protest of Sasuke bossing everybody around since it wouldn't have done them any good.

"Now," Sasuke hissed out, giving Naruto a slap on the shoulder.

"Yaaaaa!" Naruto cried out as he jumped out of the trees, kunai in hand and heading for Kakashi.

He could hear the sound of Sasuke sighing and face-palming.

 _His fault for hitting me_ , the blond thought as he flew towards Kakashi.

Much to Naruto's surprise, Kakashi didn't make any move to intercept the attack, instead remaining quite still as Naruto closed in.

Then he _moved_.

In a blur, Kakashi was behind Naruto, reaching out to grab him by the arm.

" _Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!_ "

A decent-sized fireball headed in their direction, threatening to burn both of them to a crisp if they didn't run quickly.

Kakashi released Naruto and the blond scrambled away, narrowly missing being scorched by the flames.

This left Kakashi wide open as Naruto hurried for cover.

A barrage of shuriken flew in Kakashi's direction, this time seeming to have come from Sakura.

As Kakashi dodged the projectiles, Naruto ran up behind Kakashi, yelling with joy.

"Gotcha!" he cried out as he lunged for the bells.

And then Kakashi disappeared with a small _puff_ , becoming nothing but thin air.

Naruto stumbled as he lost his balance before falling face down on the ground.

Kakashi stood in front of him, gripping the bells tightly in his hands as he stared down at the blond.

"You pass," the man said simply, the bells jingling in his hands.

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at him with blank looks on their faces as if he had just grown a second head.

"Do you not want to become genin?" Kakashi inquired, tilting his head to the side.

Naruto blinked. "But we didn't get the bells."

"That was never my objective," Kakashi replied evenly, tucking the bells back into his pouch. "This was a test of team work. You guys demonstrated that you were willing to work together right from the beginning. That's what I was looking for."

 _Even though Sasuke had to force you into obeying_ , Kakashi added darkly in his mind.

Naruto still seemed slightly dazed. "So we passed? We're not getting sent back to the Academy?"

"Nope," Kakashi singsonged, gesturing for Sasuke and Sakura to come out of hiding.

Naruto grinned.

"Maybe you're not as bad as I thought," he declared, pointing at Kakashi as he spoke.

* * *

"So I heard that you passed them," Sarutobi murmured from his seat at the Hokage's desk as Kakashi stepped into the office.

"I did," Kakashi replied quietly.

"So are you going to follow through with your promise?" the Hokage asked, shuffling through the stack of paperwork on his desk.

"Yes," Kakashi replied, bowing slightly at this.

"And the 'but'?" Sarutobi asked, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"I request that I be given three months to train them," Kakashi answered respectfully, hoping that his request would be granted.

"And why is that so?" Sarutobi asked, tidying up the documents on his desk.

"They possess potential. Lots of it. I want to start by spending time drilling the basics into them before doing anything else. That will take about a month. I can then follow with individual training. Naruto's built for ninjutsu with his enormous amount of chakra and tendency to like showing off. Sakura possesses a natural talent for chakra control, meaning that she would make a great genjutsu user and medical-nin. As for Sasuke, he is a fast learner and will be able to take anything I throw at him. Two months will be used to train them, and by the time I finish, they should be well-organized enough to take down average chūnin, perhaps even weak jōnin."

"That's quite a lot to do within three months," the Hokage remarked quietly as he eyed Kakashi.

"It's possible," Kakashi replied evenly, bowing even more.

A long silence followed as Sarutobi thought about this.

"Fine. But only three months. No more than that."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

* * *

"For the next month, my little genin, you will be going over the basics of being a shinobi once again. This will involve chakra control exercises, physical training, remedial training, and maybe a few other 'special' methods," Kakashi smiled, seeing Sasuke's frown deepen and deepen as he continued.

"I won't be honing your skills individually until we finish with the basics," Kakashi added, taking pleasure in the fact that Sasuke looked like he wanted to go strangle an innocent bunny.

"However, there is something good that comes out of this," Kakashi added, noticing how Naruto perked up at his words.

"You won't be doing the D-ranks and C-ranks, menial tasks, that the other genin teams will be doing," Kakashi finished.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What's so special about that?"

"In D-ranks and C-ranks, we'll have to catch cats, weed lawns, paint fences, and do other pointless stuff," Sakura hissed, jabbing Naruto in the ribs.

The blond's eyes widened. "So while Kiba and the others are wrestling with cats, we'll be training?"

Kakashi nodded.

"YES!"

Naruto's cry of joy could be heard from the other side of the village.

"Three cheers for not having to do boring stuff!"

* * *

Kakashi only hoped that his idea wasn't that bad.

After getting over the basics, he would have to get them under different teachers if he wanted to accomplish his goal.

He made the mental note to bully one of the medical-nin in the hospital into teaching Sakura. True, they weren't as good as Tsunade or Shizune, but it was still better than having Sakura stand helpless in the battlefield. The girl was a fast learner, and she could probably surpass her teacher within a year.

As for the genjutsu training, Kurenai still owed him a favor after he managed to prevent Gai from storming her house two months ago.

Naruto was built for ninjutsu. The boy had a massive amount of chakra that would allow him to continuously fire high-level jutsu at the enemy without tiring out running out of reserves. The fact that Naruto liked to show off also helped. The blond would be eager to learn flashy techniques.

Sasuke could probably handle anything he threw at him. It came with along with the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan.

Kakashi sighed inwardly. Still, teaching Sasuke Chidori wasn't a very good idea. The last time he had seen the boy use the technique, Naruto had nearly been punched through the chest with a fist of lightning.

So no highly destructive offensive techniques for the Uchiha, then.

He'd just have to focus on other things. Genjutsu, taijutsu, and maybe even some kenjutsu. The Chidori can wait until he was sure that Sasuke wouldn't desert the village.

 _Let's just hope that I don't screw this up..._

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

And yes, Kakashi was using a Shadow Clone during the bell test. Why else would he be able to do that?

And yes, Kakashi is going to go over the basics first. There's no point in teaching somebody how to perform high level ninjutsu if their chakra control is horrible.

Naruto, I'm looking at you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Undone**

 **Chapter 4**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

"Go home. Change."

Those were the first words that Kakashi had spoken to Naruto as the blond arrived last into the training ground the next day.

"What? Why?" the blond exclaimed loudly, his eyes widening as Kakashi jabbed a finger at his bright orange jumpsuit.

"Because wearing bright orange or bright red to a battle is like having a death wish," Sasuke snorted, glancing at Naruto's jumpsuit and Sakura's dress.

Naruto scowled, crossing his arms across his chest and glaring at the Uchiha. "And what do you have to say, Mr. Duckbutt? Your hair can be seen from a mile away!"

Sasuke returned with a loud _hn_ and a murderous glare. "It's better than having bright yellow hair _and_ an orange jumpsuit that just screams at the opponent."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "My hair has nothing to do with this, teme. It's not _my_ fault that my parents had good looks."

Kakashi sighed at this, holding up a hand and stopping the argument.

"Sasuke's fine. Naruto, why don't you try arguing less and following directions more? Sakura's already gone home," he said evenly, pointing to the place where Sakura had been standing only a minute ago.

Naruto groaned. "For real? I thought genin were allowed to wear whatever they wanted on their missions."

Kakashi turned around, fixing his gaze on the blond. "You're a shinobi now. At least look the part. I want you to come back within five minutes, with that hideous jumpsuit replaced with something more reasonable."

Naruto sent a pointed glare in Sasuke's direction. "What about him?"

Kakashi reached out, clamping a hand on the blond genin's shoulder. "Like I said before, Sasuke's fine. Stop trying to look for excuses. I know that you have a set of gray fatigues in your closet. That will do."

Naruto sucked in a breath, squirming out of Kakashi's grip and blinking. "How the hell do _you_ know what I have in my closet, you creepy old freak?"

Kakashi shrugged before giving the blond an eye-smile. "I have my ways."

Naruto took one look at the man's smile, saw Sakura running back to the training ground, and immediately decided to head back to his dingy apartment.

* * *

Naruto returned four minutes later, panting as he dashed into the training ground with the gray fatigues on. He had also added a set of black arm protectors that he had dug out of the bottom of his closet.

Kakashi nodded approvingly before turning to look at Sakura.

The female genin had replaced her red dress with a black, long-sleeved top and a light pink apron-skirt with black shorts underneath.

Funny, the outfit reminded him of Rin...

He quickly pushed the thought out of his mind as he stood back, an amused look appearing in his eyes and he noticed the immediate differences.

The jōnin clapped, a smirk appearing behind his mask.

"Good job on the first part, my little genin!" he chuckled as he pulled a scroll out of his vest, unrolling it before setting the scroll on the ground. With that, he produced a pen from his kunai pouch, crossing off something that had been written on the piece of paper.

The man twirled the pen in his hand, casting his gaze over the three.

"Now, for the training to finally begin. Keep this is mind, by the time you're through all of these, you _will_ be exhausted. Then again, you can always give up halfway through," he said, giving them another eye-smile, "and be sent back to the Academy," he added cheerfully.

Sakura shuddered.

* * *

Naruto had to admit, the training _was_ brutal. The jōnin had started off by making them do push-ups, crunches, and chin-ups, not stopping until each genin gave up. Sasuke lasted the longest.

After that, they ran ten laps around the training ground.

The three genin had protested as soon as Kakashi got through the push-ups, but the man had replied by saying that he had a colleague who would make his genin run laps around the entire _village_.

That shut them up.

After giving his three students a thirty-minute break, the jōnin moved on to chakra exercises. They basically went over Academy-level ninjutsu like _Henge_ , _Kawarimi_ , and _Bunshin_. Of course, Sasuke and Sakura aced this part. Naruto was left feeling rather discouraged as he continuously failed to produce an effective _Bunshin_.

Kakashi had jotted something down onto his scroll before raising his head, sending a rather apathetic look in his blond student's direction.

"I thought that you knew how to perform a _Kage Bunshin_. Why don't you try that?"

Naruto nodded at this, smiling as he formed the seal, yelling out: " _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!_ "

Two perfect clones appeared around the blond, one on either side.

Sakura reached out and tentatively poked the clone on the right with her finger. "It's _solid_."

"That's the beauty of a _Kage Bunshin_ ," Kakashi said, satisfied with Naruto's performance. "I suppose there's really no point in having you practice the regular _Bunshin_ if you can already do this."

That wasn't true. A Shadow Clone took nearly twice as much chakra as a regular one. Then again, Naruto's massive reserves meant that this didn't apply to him.

"You know that you don't have to _shout_ out the jutsu names, don't you?" Kakashi asked after that thought, breaking the silence and turning to give Naruto a disapproving look. "All the name does is help you concentrate. You can whisper it and still create a bunch of _Bunshin_. If you think hard enough, you wouldn't even have to."

Naruto frowned. "But-"

Kakashi held up a hand. "Your Academy instructors said that for you to remember the jutsu names."

Naruto blinked. "You mean Iruka-sensei was lying?"

Kakashi waved away the blond's question dismissively, turning to glance at the sky on top of them.

"There are a lot of things that your Academy instructors didn't teach you yet. And everybody has their own way of doing things."

The blond was left to ponder Kakashi's words as the man looked back at his students, clapping his hands to get their attention. "Class is dismissed. Make sure to get enough sleep and eat a good breakfast. I'm not guaranteeing that tomorrow's training won't kill you, especially if it's on an empty stomach."

* * *

Slowly but surely, the three genin of Team 7 steadily improved over the next two weeks.

Kakashi was strict and harsh, and he definitely wasn't as lenient and forgiving as their instructors in the Academy, but his training was efficient.

The three genin soon figured out that none of the other teachers were like this.

Of the three genin teams that passed, Kakashi seemed to be the strictest teacher. Ino had stopped Sakura when she walked by the flower shop, and had begun to brag about her jōnin-sensei, Sarutobi Asuma.

"He seems a lot nicer than _your_ teacher, Forehead," the blond had said, a hand on her hip as Sakura stood outside the shop with her arms crossed.

"At least we _learn_ things, Pig," Sakura retorted with a jerk of her head, turning to the side and walking away.

Despite her words, Sakura knew pretty darn well that Kakashi was a lot harsher than the others. Her thoughts were only confirmed when Chōji let it slip that Asuma had talked about the weather when he first met his genin.

"He just lit his cigarette, commented on the good weather, and started smoking," the Akimichi had said with a grin after Sakura asked.

The girl only sighed, hanging her head and glancing down at the ground with a frown on her face.

Now that she thought about it, Kakashi _was_ pretty darn... mean. Maybe even a little cruel.

She was pretty sure that jōnin weren't allowed to throw kunai and fire minor ninjutsu attacks at his students while they ran laps around the training ground.

When Naruto protested, Kakashi had retorted with, "Will enemies give you time to run away before they start attacking you?"

The blond's glum reply had been "No," and he had immediately turned back to his laps after wiping the sweat out of his face.

He was pretty sure that they were now the fastest of their class, especially since Kakashi would chase them around the training ground, dishing out pushups and more laps if he caught up to them.

Sasuke was just peeved.

Most of the time, Kakashi's training methods were just bizarre.

The aforementioned kunai throwing was definitely illegal, and if Sakura's parents found out, well, Kakashi was going to find himself in a pretty dire situation.

Scratch that. Even the Hokage would blow his top if he found out about things like that.

And just like that, in his own weird way, Kakashi managed to slowly bring Team 7 closer together. He gave them a common enemy.

 _Him_.

"When will we do _real_ training?" Naruto had asked one time after Kakashi declared training over, having just made them run ten laps around Training Ground Three.

"When I decide that you have mastered the basics of acting civil towards each other," the jōnin had replied mildly before _shunshin_ ing away.

This seemed to have taught Naruto and Sasuke a lesson.

From then on, they began to help each other out during training. It seemed that they both wanted to begin learning actual skills and jutsu very badly.

When Sakura can't do enough pushups, both of the boys would do extra to help her meet the requirements. When Naruto failed to properly perform a basic _Kawarimi_ , Sasuke and Sakura would do extra to help make it up for him. As for Sasuke, he was perfect in every area, save for still being a little prickly during certain times.

Kakashi had decided that they were ready.

They were ready for individual training. Their chakra control, physical strength, and speed were now greater than most of their classmates. Kakashi had drilled the basics straight into them. They can now learn more advanced jutsu without problem since their bodies were strong enough to channel more chakra.

"I've decided to have you guys do actual training starting from today, as you two like to call it," Kakashi said evenly, casting his gaze in the direction of Naruto and Sasuke, who had both perked up at the words 'actual training'.

"Now, let's see," Kakashi murmured, pulling a scroll out of his vest and unrolling it on the green grass.

"Sakura, I'm going to send you over to the hospital. Please report to Miss Oyone every other day for your medical ninjutsu training," the jōnin said simply, taking out a pen and checking off her name. "You will go over the basics of medical ninjutsu with her and study the different aspects of begin a kunoichi with her for the next month."

Sakura seemed to relax slightly at this. This was okay. Chakra control was her forte. So was memorizing stuff. It seemed to be a pretty good thing for her to do.

But what was she doing the other days?  
"Every other day you'll have a training session with Yūhi Kurenai, the jōnin-sensei of Team 8," Kakashi added, as if hearing her thoughts. "She's a genjutsu specialist. It seems that placing a genjutsu-type like you with her will be a good idea."

 _And you need a strong female figure in your life_ , Kakashi added quietly in his mind.

Now there was a light smile on the female genin's face. Medical ninjutsu and genjutsu. Support and offense. _Now_ she would finally be useful.

Kakashi turned to look at her. "Well? Training starts today."

Sakura gave a quick nod and turned to smile at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Well, see you. I hope we all improve by the end of the month," she said with a wave before running out of the training ground.

The two boys were left slightly puzzled as Sakura left, running with speed that she definitely hadn't possessed when they were first assigned to Kakashi as genin.

"She'll be fine," Kakashi said without looking up from his scroll. "Sakura's strong and her chakra control is excellent. I don't see a problem with having a medic on the team."

Naruto gave a rather relieved sigh. At least Kakashi didn't take her to somebody like the guy who made his genin team run laps around the entire _village_.

"As for Sasuke," Kakashi trailed off, tracing a finger on the paper. "You seem to be good in every area."

Sasuke was taken aback slightly with Kakashi's comment. Was the man actually... _complimenting_ him? Kakashi never even dished out words of support. He definitely never acknowledged any of Sasuke's skills before.

 _Is the world going to end? Is this why he's being so nice?_ Naruto thought rather frantically in his mind, turning to send a worried glance to Sasuke.

Sasuke seemed to feel the same away. The Uchiha's eyes said something along the lines of " _I have no idea what's going on, but I think Kakashi's off his rocker_."

"Are you interested in kenjutsu?" Kakashi asked suddenly, turning to look at Sasuke.

"Kenjutsu?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow, hiding his confusion perfectly.

"I feel like you'll be good at it," Kakashi replied slowly, raising his eyebrow too.

Sasuke thought about this. He had had a few days of training with a sword when he was younger. He had finally gotten strong enough to hold a tantō in his hand. Then...

 _I'll kill him. I swear_ , Sasuke thought furiously as the memory of what had happened years ago crossed his mind again.

"Well?" Kakashi asked again, his voice sounding slightly impatient.

"I'll do it," Sasuke replied quickly. _Anything to get stronger. Anything to kill_ him _._

Kakashi nodded, taking his pen and checking off Sasuke's name. _Kenjutsu is good. Chidori can wait._

"It seems that Hayate's out on a mission right now," Kakashi mused, turning to look at the Hokage Tower.

"That's the kenjutsu specialist of our village," Kakashi added as he saw the puzzled look on Naruto's face.

"I guess Genma will do, then," Kakashi muttered, mostly to himself as he looked away from the Hokage Tower. "I'll tell him to meet up with you here once every day," he added, turning to look at Sasuke.

The Uchiha nodded, an unreadable look on his face.

"Now go find yourself a weapon," Kakashi commanded, gesturing vaguely back at the village. "I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't offer you a weapon himself."

Sasuke nodded again, turning to glance briefly at Naruto before heading out of the training ground.

Kakashi turned to look at Naruto as soon as Sasuke disappeared.

"You, Naruto, are going to be with me."

The blond blinked. Him? With Kakashi?

 _Why am I always the one with rotten luck?_

Kakashi had held out one hand while Naruto panicked, seeming to be concentrating his chakra in his hand.

"Rasengan," he said simply as a glowing ball of blue chakra formed in his hand, spinning so fast that Naruto couldn't tell which direction it was going.

"I'm teaching you this," Kakashi said simply, turning to face one of the trees.

He then ran up, thrusting the ball of chakra into the trunk.

The tree snapped, falling to the ground with a loud _boom_.

"Cool!" Naruto exclaimed, all feelings of apprehension gone now. "That's what I'm going to learn?"

"There's a lot of training behind it," Kakashi added, dusting off his hands as he turned to look back at Naruto. "I hope you don't get frustrated and give up halfway through."

"Of course I won't!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning excitedly. "I'm going to become Hokage, after all!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I feel rather good about this chapter. This is my second take at writing it, since I took down the last one.

I hope it's not as crappy as the last one.

Team 7 is finally showing improvement! Yay!


	5. Chapter 5

**Undone**

 **Chapter 5**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Sasuke cursed under his breath before readying his sword again, tensing his muscles and getting ready to spring.

Damn that bastard Kakashi. He really saddled him with a stick in the mud when he assigned Sasuke to Shiranui Genma as a student.

Well, it wasn't like the older man was a bad teacher. In fact, he was about just as proficient as Kakashi. But he was a bit too laid back for Sasuke's taste, not to mention that he spoke in a fashion that always ticked Sasuke off.

"First and most important lesson first," the tobubetsu jōnin had said upon meeting Sasuke for the first time. "All those stories about fighting honorably and playing fair are all a bunch of crap. We're shinobi, not samurai. If winning means stabbing somebody in the back, do it. If it means striking while they're weak, do it. If it means playing dead so they'll let their guard down, _do_ it."

"Basically attack when the enemy is weak and take no chances," Sasuke muttered back. This was something new. The Academy had always taught students to play as fairly as possible and to fight in an honorable fashion. The Academy instructors, Sasuke supposed, where not as smart as they thought they were.

One moment Genma was standing calmly in front of Sasuke, a grin plastered on his face.

The next, he was coming down at Sasuke from the sky, his katana held high and ready to cut Sasuke in half.

The Uchiha had reacted rather quickly, jumping out of Genma's way and yanking his straight sword out of the sheath strapped to his back with clenched teeth.

"I guess that's something, then," Genma had commented as he advanced upon Sasuke, his slashes surprising fast. "You had enough common sense to dodge the attack and draw your weapon. I suppose Kakashi actually did teach you stuff."

His attacks were getting impossibly fast now, and Sasuke was given no choice but to continuously jump away the attacks, unable to get any slashes in.

A desperate idea suddenly came into his mind. Well, he _had_ said that fighting honorably was all crap. Sasuke ducked down, planting his hands and feet on the ground. A brief look of surprise crossed the older man's face.

And with that, Sasuke leapt up, swung his foot out, and kicked a certain vulnerable part of the man's anatomy.

"Holy shit!" Genma cried out, dropping his sword in surprise. The weapon quickly clattered to the ground, and Sasuke moved in, his katana pointed directly at the man's chest.

"Goddammit! What the hell has Kakashi been _teaching_ you?" the tokubetsu jōnin yelled, not even bothering to defend himself.

"You're the one who said that fighting honorably is all crap," Sasuke replied, a smirk appearing on his face.

* * *

"I don't even want to know what happened," Sakura commented, trying to keep a straight face as Sasuke helped a groaning Genma into the hospital room, the expression on his face livid.

"Why did you have to kick me _there_ , of all places?" the man muttered as Sasuke abruptly let go of him, causing him to lose his balance.

"I'm going to assume," Sakura said as Genma picked himself off the ground, still grumbling, "that Sasuke-kun kicked you in a certain part of your male anatomy."

"How did you know?" Genma suddenly looked up, a frown on his face.

"We get this all the time. It seems that everybody thinks that the best way to fight is to kick others directly in the groin," came a voice from behind Sakura.

"O-Oyone-sensei. I didn't think that you'd be here," the female genin whirled around, turning to look at the short woman standing behind her.

"Get _up_ , Genma, and stop whining like a baby," the older medical-nin commanded, a disapproving scowl on her face.

"But Oyone- _chan_ , Sasuke kicked me _there_ ," Genma protested, gesturing feebly at the Uchiha from his spot on the ground.

"I don't care if he did," Oyone said, shaking her head as she reached over to grab the man by his hair.

"And up you go," she added as she yanked him by the hair.

"And I thought I was popular with the women," the man mumbled as Oyone half-dragged, half-kicked him out of the hospital room.

This left Sakura alone with Sasuke in the small, white room.

"So, uh, is training going well for you, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, poking her head out of the doorway to check on the two older shinobi. It seemed that her teacher was giving the man quite a scolding out in the hallway.

"It's fine," Sasuke muttered, turning around and getting ready to leave the room.

"Wait," Sakura suddenly cried out, grabbing Sasuke by the wrist.

"What?" Sasuke snapped, jerking his hand back, causing Sakura to let go of his hand.

"This," Sakura said firmly, pointing at the raw skin on Sasuke's hand, her brows furrowing.

"It's nothing," the dark-haired boy snapped back, rolling his eyes as Sakura grabbed his hand again, her grip even firmer this time.

She half-dragged Sasuke over to one of the cabinets at the back of the room and held him tightly by the wrist as she dug around, hunting for the medicine that she was looking for.

After a few more seconds of rummaging, she emerged triumphant with a small pot of healing salve in her hand.

"Here," she said loudly, shoving the small container into Sasuke's hands. "Herbal salve. Apply on infected areas and cover it with cloth. Ease up on your kenjutsu training a little, Sasuke-kun. There wouldn't be a point in giving this to you if you continue to damage your skin so much."

Sasuke turned to the side, _hn_ ing coldly and refusing to accept the salve.

" _Here_ ," Sakura said again, putting as much force as possible into that one word. "Take it, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at this, but reluctantly snatched the small container from Sakura's hands before shoving it roughly into his pocket.

Sakura nodded, obviously satisfied, as Sasuke _hn_ ed again, this time more quietly, before shuffling out of the room with his hands in his pockets.

"And Sasuke-kun?"

"What?" he snapped, turning around as he reached the doorway, frowning.

"Good job."

"Hn."

* * *

"What's the point of this?" Naruto groaned, tossing the rubber ball into the air as he turned around to glance at Kakashi.

"It's to help you train," Kakashi replied absentmindedly, turning the page in his book. "You already popped a water balloon this morning. Add more power to it, and you'll be able to pop the thicker rubber. And when you combine that," he clapped his hands together, "you get a Rasengan."

Naruto sighed. It was already afternoon, and the sun was beating down on his back. Kakashi was sitting under a tree and chilling while he was standing under the sun and doing something that he felt was impossible.

"What are Sakura-chan and teme doing right now?" he tried again, finally setting the ball back onto his hand.

"It's not your concern," Kakashi murmured, turning the page again. "You'll find out after you see them again two weeks later.

Naruto rolled his eyes. Well, he had obviously drawn the short straw. Sakura was probably sitting in an air-conditioned hospital room right now while Sasuke was learning cool kenjutsu skills. And here he was, trying to pop a rubber ball. _Trying to pop a rubber ball._

"I strongly recommend that you stop staring at the ball and actually start trying to pop it."

The blond groaned again, wiped the sweat out of his eyes, and returned his attention to his rubber ball.

* * *

When Team 7 gathered in Training Ground Three again two weeks later, the change was significant.

Sasuke now carried a straight sword strapped to his back everywhere he went. He also seemed to get ticked off more easily, possibly due to him spending two weeks with an instructor that he strongly disliked.

Naruto _looked_ pretty much the same as before. He acted the same, still walking around with a slightly idiotic grin on his face and a relaxed. But upon further examination, it was obvious that his chakra was different. Gone was the uncontrolled and wild mass of energy he had possessed before the two weeks of training. Now the chakra was more refined and in control, although it still wasn't perfectly reigned in.

Sakura was probably the one that had changed the most. She now walked around with a small pouch strapped to her waist, containing all of the items that she needed for emergency treatment. Bandages, medicine, and a small vial of potent poison. She also walked around with a lot more confidence, and was definitely more willing to look all of her teammates in the eye.

Once again, the resemblance to Rin was almost scary. Kakashi shuddered inside before deliberately pushing the thought out of his mind, deciding that although he regretted everything that had happened more than a decade ago, the past was the past. Well, not really in this case...

Naruto was tapping his foot impatiently, giving Kakashi an expectant look.

"Well? What are we doing now that the training's over?"

Kakashi turned around to glance at the blond, frowning. "Analyzing your skills and seeing what you have learned, obviously."

Naruto blinked. "Analyzing our skills? How are we going to do that?"

Kakashi allowed a small smirk to cross over his features.

"You will see."

* * *

"Isn't this a training ground?" Sakura asked, glancing around at the clusters of trees surrounding the clearing they were currently in, a curious expression on her face.

"Yes. It's the Seventh Training Ground," Kakashi replied, turning around to look at his students with an unreadable expression on his face. "Also known as the 'Forest of Prosperity'. It's the exact opposite of the Forty-Fourth Training Ground, the 'Forest of Death'. Here, you will find abundant resources and plenty of fresh water, none of which will be poisonous. Personally, I think I'm making this a little too easy for you guys. The only threat is the wildlife," he added, turning to point at the entrance of the training ground.

"So what are we supposed to do?" Naruto asked, earning him a _hn_ from Sasuke that obviously meant something like "How come you possibly don't know? You idiot."

"Survive. Stay alive for an entire week," Kakashi replied evenly, waving a hand in the air. "And I'll say it ahead of time, but this won't be the first time I toss you guys into random training grounds. There's a lot more to come."

And with that, he lashed out at the blond, knocking him out cold with a blow to the jaw.

Sasuke and Sakura went down soon after, barely having sawn what had just happened.

"I wanted to separate you three," Kakashi murmured as he formed the seal for a _Kage Bunshin_ , causing two identical clones to materialize next to him. "There's no use in teaching you tracking skills if you're already together from the beginning."

* * *

"You _what_?"

"I tossed them into the Seventh Training Ground, unconscious," Kakashi replied evenly, ignoring the loud coughing noise that Asuma had made upon hearing this.

"Isn't that a little too cruel?" Kurenai asked tentatively, making sure to stay a few steps behind her male comrades.

"It's been only a month," Asuma muttered gruffly after recovering, stubbing out his cigarette as he spoke. "Isn't it a little too soon to test their survival skills, all by themselves?"

"They're ready," Kakashi replied evenly. Although he worked to hide the pride in his voice, both of the other two jōnin-sensei heard it.

Kurenai shook her head. "I taught Sakura the basics of genjutsu, along with a few low to mid-level techniques. There's no way she can survive in a forest by herself for an entire week, even if it _is_ the Seventh Training Ground."

"That's the whole point of it," Kakashi mused as they stopped outside the Hokage's Office. "I'm teaching them teamwork. I know perfectly well that Sakura probably can't take down two bears by herself. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto can heal their wounds or even clean them properly. They'll have to realize that they need to work together or fail," he added quietly.

This earned him a small sigh from Kurenai as she knocked on the door, still doubting Kakashi's training methods. "I just hope you keep an eye on them."

"Come in," Sarutobi called out, loud enough for all three jōnin to hear.

There was a small groan from Asuma as he heard this. "I hate it when my old man calls meetings."

The three jōnin filed into the office, making sure to stand in a straight line against in front of the wall as they walked in.

"How's your team going, Kakashi?" Sarutobi asked, raising a gray eyebrow at the silver-haired man as he pushed aside the stack of paperwork he had just been working on.

"They're coming along well. Sakura's healing and genjutsu skills are coming along really well, though she is still kind of lacking in taijutsu. Naruto's chakra control has improved greatly, and he already got the hang of Rasengan. Sasuke's kenjutsu skills are also steadily improving, and he's a lot faster than most of the other genin in his class."

Sarutobi nodded, sitting back in his desk. "I hope to see those results soon."

Kakashi didn't even flinch at the last statement. He wasn't planning on mentioning how he had tossed all three of his genin into the Seventh Training Ground.

Asuma's hand twitched slightly as he heard this, and Kurenai shook her head slightly.

"Is something wrong?" Sarutobi asked sharply, sending a hard look in his son's direction.

"Nothing, Hokage-sama," the younger Sarutobi replied quickly, deciding that he wasn't going to rat out a fellow jōnin. Not to his father, of all people.

"I hope to see improvement in Teams 8 and 10 too," Sarutobi added, giving the other two jōnin an unreadable look as he moved the stack of paperwork closer to him again.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

Oyone's actually a canon character. You can always go Google her if you want to know. She's one of those people that helped with studying the black receivers they found on Pein.

And as for Sasuke, I can just imagine him doing that. Don't ask me why.

And people might say that Sakura's OOC, but I want to say otherwise. We all know that Sakura had, or still has, that Inner Sakura in her. Basically she's bipolar. I like to think that every time she goes into medic-mode, it's just Inner Sakura unleashed with a real purpose, which is to make sure that none of her comrades get hurt.

Ah, even _I_ find it a little weird that Kakashi decided to toss all three of his students into a training ground, unconscious. But they _do_ need to work on teamwork, so it's not really that bad an idea.


	6. Chapter 6

**Undone**

 **Chapter 6**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

 _"Survive. Stay alive for an entire week."_

Kakashi's words came back to him suddenly. Gritting his teeth, Naruto closed his fingers around the rabbit's neck, effectively snapping the fragile bones there and killing it.

"A source of drinkable water, food, and shelter," Sakura murmured beside him, reciting the words that their Academy instructors had said on the topic of survival.

"At least it didn't suffer," Naruto added as he gingerly flung the rabbit to the side, glancing down at his fingers.

He had met up with Sakura almost immediately after waking up in the forest. Sasuke was still nowhere to be seen, but since it was Sasuke, it was probably safe to assume that he could survive without their help.

"Wish Sasuke-kun was here. It'd be so easy to light a fire with him around," Sakura mused as Naruto set up the materials to create a fire on the dirt, grabbing the long stick that he had set off as a drill and pointing it at Sakura.

"We can do things without chakra, Sakura-chan," the blond said, giving Sakura his typical idiotic grin as he turned back to the pile of sticks.

"I just said that it would be easier and less time-consuming," Sakura added as Naruto started rubbing his hands together, twirling the stick while pushing it down at the same time.

"We're perfectly fine without him," Naruto muttered under his breath as Sakura produced a kunai from her pouch and grabbed the rabbit by its ears, beginning to skin it.

It scared Naruto to see how efficiently she pulled away at the rabbit's skin, nothing but determination on her face as she basically dissected the poor animal. To think that Sakura, the girl who had once screamed even at the sight of a cockroach, was now so calm while killing a poor, defenseless little rabbit. A _cute_ rabbit. Weren't girls supposed to be squeamish about stuff like that?

There was now a small spark at the point where the friction was greatest. Naruto grit his teeth and rubbed his hands even harder, and the spark grew into a small flame.

"I got it!" Naruto cried out triumphantly as he tossed the stick aside, crouching down to blow at the small flame.

Sakura, who was now in the middle of cutting off the rabbit's head, turned and gave Naruto a curt nod. The blood and guts on her hands didn't seem to affect her at all. "Now get the spit ready. I'm almost done."

The blond nodded, making sure that the two saplings on either side of the fire were in position before grabbing the longer sapling that they had set aside earlier.

Together they strung the rabbit through the thin sapling before setting it on top of the other two.

"Ta-dah! It's our beautiful handiwork!" Naruto cried out happily as he stared down at the small spit.

Sakura glanced down at her hands for a brief moment before turning around. "I'm going to wash my hands." She looked at the roasting rabbit. "And I'll pick some herbs while I'm at it."

Naruto nodded, reaching out to grab the sapling from which the rabbit hung from with a smile on his face. "Just don't take too long, Sakura-chan. I might eat it before you get here."

A scowl crossed the girl's face. "Don't you even dare, you idiot."

"I was just kidding, Sakura-chan!"

* * *

Naruto had been minding his business, turning the rabbit over every minute or so when he heard a rustling of leaves behind him.

The chakra felt... familiar.

The blond quickly let go of the sapling in his hand and grabbed a kunai from his pouch before whirling around, furrowing his brows.

There was no mistaking it. The horrible haircut and the bored expression that always ticked him off. It was Sasuke.

"Hn," the Uchiha commented, looking Naruto straight in the eye, no expression showing on that perfect face that girls all loved.

Naruto frowned before jabbing his kunai at the other boy. "This," he gestured at the cooking rabbit, "is our kill. Since you didn't participate in the catching or cooking, don't even think about getting to eat it. Not even a bite."

"Do I look like I care, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke glared daggers at the blond, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned around to see Sakura heading back in their direction.

"Sasuke-kun!" the girl cried out, the herbs gathered in her arms preventing her from waving. "Do you want some of our rabbit?"

Naruto groaned. "Why should we share with somebody who didn't even help us cook it?" he grumbled under his breath.

"Because we're teammates," Sakura smiled at Sasuke before turning around to give Naruto a look. "Be a little more friendly with him, will you? And I'm pretty sure that the old bastard is watching us."

* * *

And thus Sasuke joined them, and Team 7 completed the first part of their assignment. Survive and find their way back to each other.

Kakashi sat back in the tree, tucking in his legs and making sure that his chakra signature was still hidden.

There was definitely more room for improvement, but this was really good. It seemed that establishing a stricter training schedule and getting everything together really did help.

Naruto still hadn't quite got the hang of Rasengan just yet, and Kakashi had a nagging feeling at the back of his mind that it might help if he did a little more basics with the blond. He did have a metric ton of uncontrollable and wild chakra, after all. Maybe he could force Asuma to teach him a little _Futon_ techniques before he got any further.

Sakura's development was quite surprising. It was amazing seeing how a strong role model can change young girls so much. Then again, Kurenai never had a chance with teaching Hinata. It wasn't like the Hyūga Elders would ever let her. Teaching a Hyūga Clan member genjutsu, even a member who was deemed a failure, would be staining the family name. Genjutsu simply didn't sit well with a family of strong taijutsu fighters. And of course, the worthless thing they called pride got in the way too.

Sasuke was hard to satisfy. It bugged Kakashi to see a boy with so much potential he couldn't fully develop. Give him too much power and it got to his head, causing his feud with Naruto only to grow more and more. Give him too little power and he'd snap, going off to some random stranger he didn't know to get stronger.

Maybe he should teach Sasuke Chidori once Naruto got hold of Rasengan. That way they would balance each other out more.

Sighing inwardly, Kakashi glanced down at his students again, stretching out his arms while being careful to not make much noise.

It seemed that they were almost done with their meal.

"It's not even one day yet," Naruto muttered, putting his hands behind his head as he stared up at the sky, unaware of Kakashi hiding in a tree behind him. "Do we just _survive_ like this? It feels more like camping."

Sakura sent a look in the blond's direction. "I wouldn't let my guard down if I were you. Who knows what Kakashi-sensei has up his sleeve?"

Sasuke gave a quick nod after hearing this, watching the fire die down with a rather emotionless expression. "Stay on your toes, usuratonkachi."

Kakashi sat back, smiling, as the three of them stood up and got ready to head to the small stream further in the woods.

 _Of course it wouldn't be this easy._

* * *

Camp was simple.

It was obvious that they didn't have any tents, sleeping bags, or anything of the sort. So they decided to rough it.

"It's not like it ever rains in Fire Country," Naruto commented as he shaded the sun from his eyes with his hand. "We're not in Water."

Sasuke was pretty much fine with it too. "It doesn't bother me at all," he grumbled as he set his sheathed sword on the ground.

Sakura was, surprisingly, perfectly fine with Naruto's suggestion. "I've been camping before."

Naruto turned around, blinking at the girl with a rather surprised expression.

First she skinned and gutted a rabbit without blinking. Then she stopped swooning over Sasuke every time she saw him. Now she's completely fine with sleeping in the wild?

"There's really no point in complaining," Sakura shrugged, as if the solution was obvious. "I just wish you and Sasuke-kun got along a little more. The whole point of this exercise is to strength our bonds and test our teamwork."

Somewhere in the forest Kakashi smiled.

* * *

It took them quite a long time to realize that the bushes surrounding their small camp were burning.

"Wake up!" Sakura cried out, reaching out to grab her blond teammate by the collar before shaking him violently. "It's a fire!"

Naruto cracked open one eye, turning around and glancing at the trees surrounding them. True enough, there were flames licking away at the short grass surrounding them.

"The _fuck_?" he cried out, sitting up suddenly and almost knocking Sasuke down. "Why is there a fire all of a sudden?"

"I'll bet all of my allowance that this is the old bastard's doing," Sakura muttered as Naruto stood up, dusting off his clothes.

"You have an allowance?" He couldn't help but ask the question. Since he didn't have parents, he never had the luxury of receiving extra money that he could use on whatever he wanted. He barely had enough money to buy new clothes the way it was now.

"Of course I do," Sakura replied grumpily, turning to look at the flames. "Every-"

She stopped abruptly, suddenly realizing that not "everybody" received an allowance. It seemed that only civilian children received that special treatment from their parents. Naruto and Sasuke didn't even have parents.

"Listening to you two discuss money is nice and all, but shouldn't we be running?" Sasuke asked evenly, pointing at the fire that was slowly heading in their direction.

Sakura and Naruto both nodded before taking off.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, the fire died down around dawn.

That made it obvious to all three of the genin that Kakashi had caused the inferno that had raged through the forest. Not surprising at all.

"Great. Now we have no place to sleep," Naruto grumbled as he splashed water from the small stream into his face, washing away the soot and ash from the fire.

"We can still sleep on the ground. Clothes don't really matter now," Sasuke suggested evenly, bringing a handful of water to his lips.

"I'm pissed that he did this to us on the first day," Sakura muttered, staring at the sun peeking out the horizon with a scowl on her face. "I just want to pummel him after we're done with this."

"I second that," Naruto said loudly, now in the middle of washing his hands in the clear water.

Sasuke only _hn_ ed, though it was pretty obvious that he was just as angry as the other two.

Kakashi was going to _suffer_ after all this was over.

* * *

The next day was rather uneventful compared to the first day. No major fires occurred in the area. Prey was a little harder to find, but Sasuke managed to set a trap near the stream and caught a rabbit. It was a little smaller than the one from the earlier day, but it had to do.

"What's he going to do next, send a bear after us?" Naruto muttered as he set the pile of sticks onto the ground with a huff.

"That's better than a fire," Sasuke muttered as he crouched down to the sticks, blowing chakra and forming a fire within seconds. "We can just grab some kunai and stab it to death. Or I can take my sword and chop it to pieces."

Naruto shuddered as he heard this, instead deciding to help skin the rabbit while Sakura went and picked dandelions. She had said something about them being even more nutritious than spinach.

He had tugged off all the rabbit's skin and been in the middle of chopping off its head with Sasuke's sword when Sakura came back, holding a bunch of dandelions in her hand.

"These," she said triumphantly as she set them down next to the fire, "are entirely edible. They have more iron than spinach."

Naruto sighed as he cut off the rabbit's head, burying it under the dirt on the ground before handing the rest of the animal's body to Sasuke.

The Uchiha took it with a _hn_ before stabbing a long sapling through the rabbit's body. Same process as yesterday. Roast the rabbit over an open fire and wait for a long while. Since they couldn't boil it, they had to roast it thoroughly before they actually ate it.

"Don't some shinobi carry pots and pans with them when they have long missions?" Naruto asked through a mouthful of rabbit meat after it finally finished cooking.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Sakura gritted her teeth after hearing Naruto's question.

Naruto swallowed before giving Sakura a grin. "Sorry, Sakura-chan."

Sakura handed some dandelion leaves to her blond teammate. "Here," she said quietly as she offered him the small green leaves.

Naruto didn't seem to question Sakura's judgment. He reached out and snatched the leaves before shoving one into his mouth. He promptly spit it out, causing Sasuke to shift slightly to the right.

"What was _that_?" Naruto almost yelled, staring at the rest of the leaves sitting in his palm.

"Eat them," Sakura said with a commanding voice, leaning over to grab Naruto by the hand before shoving the leaves into his mouth.

Naruto frowned, his brows furrowing, as he chewed.

Sasuke watched with a small smirk on his face.

"You too," Sakura said quietly, handing the Uchiha a small handful of the leaves.

Sasuke frowned, sending a glance in Naruto's direction. The blond quickly swallowed his food and gave Sasuke a thumbs-up and a forced smile, daring the other boy to eat them.

Sasuke _hn_ ed before accepting the leaves from Sakura and shoving them all into his mouth at once. There was a slight furrow of his brows as he ate, but he quickly covered it up with his regular expression.

Sakura sat back onto the ground, a satisfied expression on her face as she stared up at the darkening sky. "I think this is fun."

Naruto took another bite of his rabbit leg before giving Sakura a smile. "It's really nice spending time with people I actually _like_ ," he said, turning to glance in Sasuke's direction.

The Uchiha simply _hn_ ed before looking down at the burning fire, the red flames reflecting in his dark eyes.

The other two had learned over the past two days that silence, in most cases, indicated that Sasuke meant 'yes'. He would normally voice his opinions if he didn't agree. There were two types of silence for Sasuke. One was the _I-agree-but-I-can't-let-you-know-I-do_ silence. The other was _words-cannot-describe-how-angry-I-am_ silence that he often reserved for Kakashi.

His _hn_ s, on the other hand, were a little harder to differentiate from each other.

Sakura smiled, lying down at the ground with her hands behind her hand as she stared up at the pink and blue sky. "That's almost two days. We only have five days to go. Boy, do I want to have a nice long shower right now."

Naruto blinked. "A shower?"

"Or a bath," Sakura replied quickly, looking away. "I just want to wash away all the dirt and grime."

"There's a stream further down," Naruto suggested just as quickly, pointing in the general direction of their source of water.

Sakura turned to give him a skeptical look. "And?"

"And we won't look, right, Sasuke?" the blond answered immediately, turning to look at the dark-haired Uchiha.

Sasuke gave a slight _hn_ that translated as "I don't really care".

Sakura sat up, clapping her hands. "So I finally get to wash tomorrow!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

I don't know. I think the character development might have been a little too sudden.

Constructive criticism is appreciated.


	7. Chapter 7

**Undone**

 **Chapter 7**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Sakura woke up as soon as the sun began to rise, stamping her feet on the ground to wake up her two male teammates.

"Naruto, you will find yourself in quite a bad situation if you make the decision to peek on me," she said as the blond woke up, rubbing his eyes.

There was a small grunt of approval and Sakura scowled, walking over to grab him by the shirt. "Did you even hear me?" she demanded, giving him a light smack on the cheek. "Why don't you go on a patrol with Sasuke-kun or something like that? Hunt some rabbits and gather some food."

Naruto grunted in approval, mumbling something before going back to sleep. Sakura gave a huff before heading for the stream, deciding that there was really no point in lecturing Naruto when he was half asleep.

This left Naruto sprawled on the ground as Sasuke eyed him disdainfully, giving a _hn_ before reaching for a stick that had been lying on the ground. He gave the sleeping figure a prod, his brows furrowing as Naruto simply swatted the tree branch away before rolling over.

In the end, Sasuke decided to just give up, tossing the stick aside and walking away from the camp.

Thus Naruto was left sprawled on the ground as both Sasuke and Sakura walked away, snoring away,

Sakura came back from the stream looking haggard with her hair tangled and her apron skirt in tatters, a scowl on her face as she stumbled into the camp.

By then, Naruto had already woken up. He had been in the middle of observing a line of ants crawling across the dirt ground when he finally noticed Sakura.

His eyes widened. "What happened, Sakura-chan?"

"Had a run-in with a bear?" Naruto asked, half-kidding as he took in her worn appearance.

"Since when have your observation skills been so good?" Sakura snapped, yanking off the remains of the skirt and tossing them unceremoniously on the ground.

She couldn't help it. Years of insulting Naruto had made it almost a habit for her to say something mean every time the blond did something even remotely impressive. Now that teamwork became something that her new teacher preached about every day, she tried to act nice towards the blond.

"For real?" Naruto didn't seem to have been affected by her comment, instead looking at her with eyes of interest as Sakura reached up to pat her messy pink locks.

"Yes." Sakura bit her tongue to keep herself from adding, "You idiot," to the end of the sentence, instead pulling a kunai from her pouch and raising it to her head.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you going to kill yourself, Sakura-chan? Just because you ran away from a bear? No, don't do it! Imagine how sad Sasuke and I will be if-"

His rambling was enough to produce a bark of laughter from the girl as she cut off a giant chunk of her hair with the kunai, grimacing as the pink hair fell to the ground with a wet _plop_.

She would die sooner or later if she kept wearing her hair this long. If the enemy ever managed to grab hold of it or if it ever got caught in the tree branches, she would be dead. The words of disapproval that her parents had said when they heard she wanted to become a shinobi came back to her.

"You? Be a kunoichi?"

What they refrained from adding was, "That would be a disgrace to the entire family."

Sakura sighed, reaching up to touch the hair, something that she had been so proud of, that was now slightly above her shoulders.

Naruto's jaw was now open, and he gawked at her like she was some strange animal that originated from another side of the world.

Sasuke returned soon after, allowing a slight expression of shock to cross his face as he saw Sakura angrily chopping a few wild turnips that she had found after returning to camp, an irritated look on her face as she hacked away at the poor turnips.

He didn't say anything, only set a nest of bird's eggs on the ground after giving a curt nod. "Lunch," he said simply.

Sakura returned his nod, pointing at the nest with the kunai in her hand. "We can eat them raw. There's no point in starting a fire for every meal."

Only Naruto seemed slightly apprehensive as he heard this. Sure, he ate raw egg sometimes. It only happened when there was absolutely no ramen left, and he would pour the contents of the egg onto his rice before choking everything down within a few minutes. Raw egg was disgustingly slimy.

Sakura and Sasuke refused to acknowledge him, breaking apart the eggs and tipping the contents into their mouths without even a word of complaint.

They left behind one for Naruto.

 _Well, it's a start_ , the blond thought as he reached for the leftover egg. At least they were nice enough to leave him something to eat. Normally people weren't even that nice.

* * *

Two more uneventful days passed by, with nothing major occurring within the forest. The three genin figured that Kakashi had probably been yelled at for setting an entire Training Ground on fire. The thought of their bastard of a teacher standing completely rigid as the Hokage raised his voice was enough for them to stay in a good mood.

It wasn't until the morning of the fifth day when things finally started to pick up again.

All three genin had been up and awake, bustling around camp and getting breakfast ready when a kunai whistled past Sakura's ears, lodging in the ground a few inches away from Naruto's feet.

Sasuke's hand instinctively went for the handle of his sword while Sakura and Naruto both whipped kunai out of their supply pouches.

Nothing. There was no chakra signature, no rustle of leaves caused by movement, and absolutely no sound of breathing coming from the spot where the kunai had came from.

Naruto eyed the kunai by his foot with a curious look before bending down to pick it up, immediately noticing the piece of paper attached to the handle.

"Can't read the writing," he muttered, holding out the piece of paper for Sakura to see.

There, written in chicken scratch that she assumed was Kakashi's handwriting, were two words.

 _Stay alert._

She had enough time to bark out the word, "Duck," before the barrage of shuriken came.

They all shot down to the ground, rolling into a tight ball to make themselves tinier targets as the wickedly sharp weapons rained down on them, resembling rain in Water Country during spring.

Even then they still received cuts and scratches from the spots where the blades cut them.

Sasuke grabbed a handful of dirt from the dirt, giving a frustrated growl as one of the shuriken got lodged in his shoulder.

"He has to run out of shuriken at some point," Sasuke muttered as another shuriken found a spot on top of his hand.

Either Sasuke was wrong or Kakashi just brought an entire bucketful of shuriken with him. The endless spinning blades didn't seem to stop, and all genin simply crouched down on the ground as they waited for the assault to end.

After what seemed like minutes of being cut and scratched by shuriken, Sakura stood up. "This doesn't feel right."

 _"Kai!"_

The shuriken stopped, there was a loud bang followed by a flash of light, and all three genin found themselves crouching on the ground with absolutely no wounds.

"Figured," Sakura muttered, glancing at the spot on her arm where there had been a shuriken only a few seconds ago.

" _Damn_ him," Sasuke growled, standing up with a scowl on his face. "So he knows our location."

"Not only do I know your location," came a breezy voice from behind the Uchiha, "but I also know exactly what you three did over the past few days."

Sakura had his sword in his hand when he whirled around, clenching his teeth as he pointed the tip of the blade at the jōnin. "So you finally showed up?"

"That was quite a greeting, Sasuke- _kun_ ," Kakashi said deliberately, smiling as the scowl on Sasuke's normally good-looking face deepened. "You are quite easily provoked," he added as he easily swatted away Sasuke's sword, sending it knocking to the ground with a loud _clang_.

Naruto eyed him suspiciously, raising one of his blond eyebrows impossibly high. "It's only been five days. Whatcha doin' here?"

"It would seem that the little _incident_ that occurred two days ago has caused the Hokage to put a stop to your training in this place," Kakashi said, gesturing vaguely around at the trees surrounding the small camp, not sounding even slightly worried that _he_ had been the one who caused the "incident".

"Basically, your seven days in the Seventh Training Ground has been cut short. You are to begin taking regular missions just like the other genin teams for the remaining period of time until the Chūnin Exams."

* * *

Kakashi couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Just when Team 7 was finally beginning to show some development, the Hokage had called him into his office and given him quite a scolding.

"Villagers are uncomfortable. Sakura's parents have filed numerous complaints over the past five days, asking exactly where their precious little daughter went. The others aren't exactly happy to know that the host of the Kyūbi and the last of the Uchiha, two ticking time-bombs in the village, have both disappeared," the old man had said, shooting Kakashi a look of absolute disapproval over his stacks of paper.

Kakashi had shifted his weight to his other foot, refusing to look into the Hokage's stern gaze.

"This year's batch of genin are special. So many heirs, so much potential. All of the eyes in the village are trained on them, expecting at least one of them to be promoted to chūnin during the Exams later on in the year," Sarutobi added, his eyes softening slightly.

"Pressure from the clans?" Kakashi asked.

The clans grappling for power in the Council had always seemed pretty ridiculous to him. They were all shinobi of Konoha, having sworn their lives to protect the precious village that served as their homes. There was really no point in fighting with their teeth and nails for just that little power in the Council when they were all loyal to the same village.

Then again, the Hatake had always stayed out of politics. They had been there when Konoha was formed, a small clan that had chosen to ally with the Senju during the Warring States Period. Over time, the line thinned out until there was only one member left. Sure, they may be a few distant relatives of his scattered throughout the continent, but it wasn't like Kakashi ever cared much about family he never got to see.

"Yes." The Hokage's reply brought him away from his thoughts, and Kakashi gave a respectful nod as the older man made a shooing gesture that indicated he was dismissed. He was probably still mad at him for setting fire to an entire training ground.

At least he didn't burn it down entirely.

* * *

"First mission we get, we have to work with another team?" Naruto groaned, tossing the rock in his hand into the air with a frown on his face.

"It's an A-rank, usuratonkachi," Sasuke replied quickly as Naruto caught the rock in his open palm. "A group of chūnin sent there were all eliminated. Do you really think we'd stand much of a chance as just one team?"

"Three mere genin and their jōnin-sensei against the mighty Momochi Zabuza of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, I don't really think we'd stand much of a chance," Sakura sighed, glancing up at the sky with a disappointed look in her jade eyes. "But why Team 10 of all teams? At least Team 8 knows how to track."

"I think," Sasuke began, catching both Naruto's and Sakura's attention with just two words, "that he's trying to teach us teamwork. The Ino-Shika-Chō combination is famous for their cooperation skills. They have a mutual understanding between each other that many aren't able to accomplish."

Naruto leaned back onto his tree, bringing his hands to the back of his head as he scoffed. "So you know everything, huh?"

Sakura held her tongue. Normally she would have responded with something like, "Of course Sasuke-kun knows everything, dumbass!"

Now she simply sat back, waiting for Sasuke to react to Naruto's comment.

Nothing came. He simply closed his eyes and leaned back into the tree, a soft _thump_ sounding as his back connected with the solid wood.

"One would've thought that somebody who grew up surrounded by shinobi would know that," the Uchiha murmured quietly, " _usuratonkachi_."

 _There comes the insult_ , Naruto thought to himself, smiling. The day Sasuke let go of a chance to scoff at him would be a cold day in Hell.

"Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, huh?" Sakura said quietly to herself, turning around to look at Sasuke. "Do we really stand a chance against him?"

"I guess another reason the Hokage sent Team 10 was so there would be another capable jōnin on the battlefield," Sasuke added, opening his eyes as a whirlwind of leaves materialized in front of them.

"Correct," Kakashi drawled as he appeared in front of the three genin, an amused look in his eyes. "I guess drilling the basic strategies into your heads really did have an effect."

Sasuke simply looked away, a bored expression on his face.

"Well, training's obviously canceled today since we're going on the mission," the jōnin said, reaching into his vest and pulling out three tiny scrolls before tossing them to his students. "Pack efficiently. I expect nothing more than a small backpack from all three of you. Pack more than the limit, and I'll toss _all_ of your belongings into the closest river there."

* * *

"So you told us to pack efficiently. What about _them_?" Naruto asked, pointing a thumb at Chōji, who was too busy munching on his snacks to notice Naruto's words. "A bulky backpack like will surely be noticed."

Kakashi turned around, sending Asuma a hard look. "You know, it wouldn't hurt to come down a little harder on your genin."

"And get all three of them to hate me? No thanks," the other jōnin replied quickly, lighting his cigarette as he spoke. "Not to mention that their parents won't be very happy if I tossed them all into a training ground without warning," he added, more quietly so that his students wouldn't hear.

Kakashi rolled his eyes, this time turning his attention to Naruto.

"I can't do anything about how Asuma teaches his students," he shrugged, "and it's not really my problem if the Hokage decides to give him a lecture about 'disciplining the new generation properly'."

"Hey!"

"Just saying the truth," Kakashi answered with a smile.

Asuma only shook his head, turning around to tell Shikamaru, who had stopped to glance up at the clouds in the sky, to keep walking. "We can look at the clouds later when we make camp."

"Making camp? What a drag."

Sakura was caught up in an argument with Ino.

"So what if your chakra control is so good? You can't kill people with medical ninjutsu, can you?"

"Actually, medical-nin can use chakra scalpels, Pig. Blades formed from chakra can be sharper than any kunai, no matter how many times you sharpen it."

"Well, I'm not going to believe that until I see one of those chakra scalpels with my own eyes. Right now, I'll just tell myself that you're full of schist."

Kakashi didn't bother to inform the blond that chakra scalpels were very real. And with the right amount of control and chakra, they had the potential to be sharper than any bladed weapon you can find in the world. Then again, there really wasn't a point in doing that.

It seemed that Asuma was thinking the same thing, since he simply sighed and took another drag out of his cigarette.

"So where is this Tazuna guy that requested the mission?" Naruto asked suddenly, pointing at the tops of the buildings that were beginning to appear in front of them, standing behind the trees. "In that little village there?"

"Yes. Normally he would come directly to Konoha, but he deemed travelling by himself far too dangerous after an entire team of chūnin were wiped out by the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"But why are two genin teams taking on an A-rank in the first place?" Shikamaru asked, his eyes closed as he walked. Ino's brows furrowed as she saw this. "Shikamaru, walk with your eyes _open_."

The Nara ignored her, turning around to glance at the two jōnin walking at the back of the group.

"We don't have enough manpower," Kakashi replied simply, causing Asuma to make a noise at the back of throat that translated as, "We're not supposed to tell them that".

"What? Shouldn't the newer generation know what's going on in the village? Konoha's short on chūnin and jōnin. Many of the parents from shinobi clans have decided that they don't want their children to live through a hard life, especially after the most recent war and the Kyūbi Attack. It's not like civilians ever had interest in living the hard life of what was basically a 'mercenary' in the first place."

Asuma shook his head, groaning as all of the genin whipped around to look at the two jōnin. "Turn around and keep walking," he barked out, giving all of them hard looks as they reluctantly obeyed.

Shikamaru simply stopped walking and turned around to look at the two.

"So. You mentioned both the Kyūbi Attack and the Third Shinobi World War within one minute. Isn't that something you normally wouldn't tell fresh-out-of-the-Academy genin like us?"

"I figured," Kakashi grinned behind his mask, watching Shikamaru's expression. "I guess Shikaku-san never keeps things like these away from you?"

"Only the top secret," Shikamaru admitted, watching as the other genin in the front paused, noticing that three of the members of their little party were missing. "My mom doesn't like it when he does, though. So he rarely ever tells me anything interesting."

Asuma had decided to simply give up, brushing by Kakashi as he shepherded the genin to keep them walking. "People are giving away secrets a lot these few days," he grumbled as he headed over to keep the genin in the front walking.

Shikamaru followed him, muttering something under his breath as Asuma began hollering at the students, seeming to take out his frustration on the genin.

Kakashi shrugged before turning around.

 _Things are about to get interesting._

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

As Kakashi said, things are going to kick off soon.

Same thing as usual. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

I think I made a few grammar and spelling mistakes in this chapter. Hehe...


	8. Chapter 8

**Undone**

 **Chapter 8**

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own _Naruto_. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

* * *

Tazuna was a grumpy, bespectacled old man who greeted them with a frown as the two genin teams walked into the small teashop sitting in the middle of the village. He was dressed simply, in the type of clothes that poorer civilians usually wore. Nothing about him gave away the fact that he was currently on the run from one of the wealthiest underground organizations on the continent.

"They sent a bunch of kids this time? Is the leader of Konoha serious?"

"We apologize for disappointing you," Kakashi said curtly, sending the man a hard look. "Our Hokage sent _a bunch of kids_ to complete this A-rank mission. If you have complaints, you can always either ask a different village for help or face off against all those thugs and mercenaries by yourself."

"Watch it, Kakashi. You're scaring him," Asuma muttered beside him, giving him a pat on the shoulder. "I thought you were called out on intimidating your clients when you were younger."

Kakashi only glared at him.

The six genin watched this conversation intently, their heads swiveling around to glance first at Kakashi, then Asuma, and Kakashi again until Shikamaru let out a long sigh.

"We'll just leave this up to our teachers," the Nara drawled in a bored voice before heading for the doorway. "C'mon, Ino and Chōji."

Naruto blinked. "Do we leave too?"

"What do you think?" Sasuke asked out of the corner of his mouth, jabbing Naruto in the ribs. "It's obvious that Kakashi doesn't care. But Asuma, he's uncomfortable with us hearing top-secret info. I thought we made that clear on our way here."

"So we leave," Sakura said firmly, grabbing both of them by their shirts and proceeding to half-drag, half-guide them out of the teashop.

* * *

"You know, Shikamaru, I think Kakashi-sensei wouldn't have minded if we stayed and listened to their conversation," Sakura said as soon as the half dozen genin walked out of the teashop.

"Asuma-sensei would cry if we heard all of that 'top secret' information," Chōji said before Shikamaru even opened his mouth to reply, putting on air quotation marks with his fingers at the 'top secret' part. "He's squeamish about stuff like that, especially since his father is the, _you know_."

"His old man's the what?" Naruto asked, turning around to look at Chōji.

"The Hokage. You didn't know?" Ino asked, turning around and looking at Naruto as if the answer was obvious.

"Of course he doesn't, Pig," Sakura said suddenly, whirling around and sending Ino a look. "He doesn't have parents who know everything like yours."

A short-lasting feeling of shame appeared inside her as she said this, but she quickly pushed it away. There was nothing wrong with her defending a fellow teammate, especially a teammate who helped her plenty of times during Kakashi's training that came straight from Hell. It didn't matter if he was the dunce of the class.

Naruto gave Sakura such a mawkish look that Sasuke cringed.

Sakura sighed.

But he really did act like an idiot sometimes.

Chōji produced a bag of potato chips from his backpack and ripped them open, ignoring the awkward silence that had taken over the group. "Mm. She packed me barbeque. My favorite."

He began crunching on them loudly, causing a scornful expression to appear on Sasuke's face. It was obvious that he decided against saying anything. The way he pressed his lips into a tight line and looked away told Naruto enough.

Ino still had her jaw open. The difference was obvious. Kakashi must have had done something extreme to get Sakura to stand up for the one person that everybody in the village hated.

* * *

"There isn't enough room to have all eight of you live in my house," Tazuna said quite frankly as soon as the two genin teams arrived at his house, around two hours after leaving the village they had met Tazuna at earlier. They had walked all the way over to the edge of the country before taking a boat to the small island that was known as Wave Country.

"We don't need to all live in your house," Kakashi replied quickly, glancing at his three students. "Two people can stay on guard at all times while the rest make camp. Is that okay?"

To be honest, he knew full well that there probably weren't going to be any ambushes. Previous experience had taught him that. But he was still ticked off that Tazuna had been so dismissive of the genin earlier, he had to have a reason to annoy him.

"We're _camping out_?" Ino immediately protested, her hands going automatically to her face. "I can't sleep in the wild. There's bugs and dirt! My skin will be irritated by the grass!"

"Then you guys can stay in the house, Pig," Sakura muttered irritably. "It's not like I want to share a camp with you anyways," she added, this time more quietly so Ino wouldn't hear.

"There's room for at least four of them," said the woman standing in the doorway of the small building, her hands resting on the shoulders of the small boy standing next to her. "We can actually make room for all of you in the house, if you want. It'll be a little crowded, but you can all fit in."

"Thank you for the offer," Naruto said, bowing down and remembering his manners. "But we've lived in a forest for a while already. Roughing it with the trees is completely fine with us."

"If you say so," Chōji muttered under his breath, shifting his backpack around as he spoke. "I have no intention of sleeping in the grass."

* * *

"At least my old man sent me," Asuma said finally, drinking his second cup of tea. "I get the feeling that things would've gone worse if Kurenai were here instead."

The eight shinobi were all gathered in the tiny living room of Tazuna's house, crammed into the small space and trying to get as comfortable as possible. Asuma and Kakashi had both taken spots at the small dining table while all members of Team 7 leaned against the wooden wall, resembling statues the way they stood still with their arms closed and their eyes closed. Sasuke was the one who had started off in that position. Sakura copied him because she found it amusing. Naruto copied Sakura simply because he thought it was funny if all three of them stood in the same position.

The members of Team 10 all sat on the ground.

Kakashi nodded. "Mmm."

Asuma frowned at Kakashi before reaching into his pocket, only to be called out by Ino.

"No smoking in the room!" the blond girl called out half-heartedly from her spot on the ground. It sounded like she said it more out of habit than worry for her sensei's health.

Kakashi sent Asuma a look. "I will tell Kurenai everything."

"Fine."

The Sarutobi put the pack of cigarettes away, sighing before pouring himself another cup of tea. "I'll just drink my tea while you plan out all the strategies."

Kakashi ignored him. "We're going to kill Gatō."

"We're what?" Naruto asked loudly, looking slightly confused. "And isn't Gatō the one who's after the grouchy bridge builder?"

"He's the one who sent Momochi Zabuza after Tazuna in the first place. It's safe to assume that if we want to receive the right amount of pay for this mission, we'll have to at least rob Gatō of a giant chunk of his money. It _would_ be easier to just kill him," Kakashi said absentmindedly, staring at the tealeaves floating around in Asuma's cup.

Of course, they had killed Gatō in the original timeline too. There was nothing wrong with doing it again. But the timeline had _changed_. This mission wasn't supposed to have occurred until one week later. And a team of chūnin had already been sent, which meant-

"Hey, Kakashi. Snap out of it," Asuma's voice hit him, followed by a sharp snap in front of Kakashi's nose. "I thought we were going to plan strategies."

"Yes," Kakashi began. "Gatō likes to play dirty. He doesn't care about using underhanded techniques and playing dirty if it means he can get what he wants. I worry about Tazuna's family's safety. Who knows if Gatō would send his minions after a defenseless woman and child?"

"I see," Asuma muttered, turning to look at the genin. "But we couldn't risk having more than one person guard them. We need to put all of our efforts into defeating the Demon of the Hidden Mist. He _is_ the main reason this is an A-rank, after all."

"Naruto, how about you go?" Kakashi asked, suddenly, causing Sasuke to snap his head around.

"Calm down, Sasuke," Kakashi said, waving a hand in the Uchiha's direction. "I think you're a lot more valuable fighting against the main enemy itself rather than guarding against an enemy that might not even come. Naruto's more flexible. We've no idea who Gatō might send, but I'm pretty sure that that person wouldn't be somebody as strong as Momochi."

 _They'll just be low-ranking chūnin and dropouts from villages_ , Kakashi thought to himself.

"But doesn't he have somebody with him? The masked person?" Naruto asked suddenly, surprising everybody else.

"Yes. He has a Hyōton user with him," Kakashi answered slowly. "It's a Kekkei Genkai. We'll have to handle him with care."

"What's a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asked quite frankly, causing Sasuke to give a rather annoyed _hn_.

"A Kekkei Genkai is an ability that is passed down from generation to generation in a clan. Genetically. They can't be learned by anybody from another clan," Sakura said, acting just like the perfect, studious student she normally was, turning to focus her jade eyes on Naruto. "A good example would be the Byakugan that Hinata has. The Hyūga all possess it. Activating it is something like a coming-of-age ritual for them."

"You mean that thing she does when the veins around her eyes bulge and she can see me even when I'm behind her?" the blond boy asked, raising an eyebrow and causing the whisker-marks on his cheek to shift slightly.

"Yes. I meant that."

"But Shikamaru's _Kagemane no Jutsu_ isn't a Kekkei Genkai," Sasuke added, seeming to relish the chance to teach Naruto something he didn't know. "It's a _Hiden_ technique. That means that although it's unique to the Nara Clan, other shinobi will be able to replicate it if they are taught the basics."

"Basically, everybody can learn it, but we just choose not to let anybody else know, " Shikamaru drawled, turning to glance at Naruto. "That's all you need to know for now."

"So this Kekkei Genkai thing. Is it really special or something like that?"

"Most of the shinobi clans in Konoha don't possess Kekkei Genkai. The Senju Clan has _Mokuton_ , which has only appeared with the First Hokage throughout the village's entire history. And there's the Byakugan of the Hyūga that we mentioned earlier. Then there's the Sharingan, which appears only in the clansmen of the Uchiha Clan," Sakura said before trailing off, turning to cast a sheepish look at Sasuke. "I don't really think I should explain anything other than that, right, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke shifted at his spot by the wall, closing his eyes before letting his arms drop to his sides. "Yes. There's nothing else you need to mention."

Sakura looked extremely embarrassed. Judging by her and Sasuke's reaction, this probably wasn't a topic that they didn't want to touch upon.

Naruto decided to not touch upon it any more. He acted pretty dense sometimes, but he was plenty aware that an uprising had gone on in the village a few years ago after an entire clan of people were massacred in the middle of the night. Sasuke became alone after that. Nobody was there to pick him up after school ended. Even when Sasuke sprained his ankle during taijutsu training, there hadn't been anybody there to take care of him.

It wasn't a coincidence.

"Order!" Kakashi called out suddenly, catching Naruto's attention and shutting everybody else up with a loud, sharp clap of his hands. "So our strategy has already been decided. Naruto will remain near Tazuna's house at all times, keeping guard over Tsunami-san and Inari. The rest of us will be there to escort Tazuna everywhere he goes. As soon as Momochi appears, we will assume formation. The genin will guard Tazuna in a circle while Asuma and I take positions in front. You guys," he pointed in the general direction of the genin in the room, "will guard the client and hold the masked figure at bay. Asuma and I will take care of the Demon. Sound good?"

"Good," Naruto muttered half-heartedly. "So do I join up with you guys once I finish bashing their heads or something like that?"

"Yes. By all means, it'd help to have another genin on the battlefield."

"'Kay."

"And Naruto?"

"Yes?"

"We're going to have Asuma here train you in the basics of _Fūton_ over the next few days," Kakashi said cheerfully, clapping a hand on Asuma's shoulder as he pointed at Naruto. "No high-ranking techniques, of course. Just enough for you to have some more techniques in your arsenal."

"How do you know what chakra type I am?" Naruto asked suspiciously, raising an eyebrow at Kakashi.

"It's the only chakra nature that both your parents shared," Kakashi replied.

 _And of course, I know._

* * *

Even though they spent most of their time away from each other and only gathered for meetings, it was obvious that there was a large gap between the two teams.

Sakura's outburst to defend Naruto during the first day was enough for Ino to stay away from her former friend. With the only two girls in the group ignoring each other, that basically meant Sakura and Ino would have nobody to talk to.

As for the others, it wasn't like they were really good friends in the first place. Naruto was well acquainted with Shikamaru and Chōji, but they were only acquaintances. Shikamaru had always been kind enough to him, but he always chose Chōji over Naruto when they were had free time in the Academy. Sasuke was famous for being stuck-up and not associating with anybody, so it really wasn't much of a surprise when he kept quietly to himself while the others tried to make small talk.

Key word: _tried_.

The few days spent in the Seventh Training Ground had taught Sakura that appearance truly didn't manner. She could have died if her hair got caught on the branches while she ran away from the bear. There was no way she was going to risk that.

With the pride of her appearance gone, everything else seemed to matter less too. What was the point of having perfect, long nails when they always got dirty after a training session? Why did having smooth and pale skin matter when she would spend hours under the sun, only to get that skin covered with dirt and mud over and over again?

With beauty and clothes out of the question, there were few topics that Sakura and Ino can actually discuss without making the other feel significantly awkward. Sakura had always been horrible at flower arranging. Ino hated reading. There was no way they could ever talk about their hobbies with each other.

It wasn't like they wanted to talk to each other in the first place.

Sasuke probably had even more problems with Ino than Sakura. Every time Ino tried flirting with him, even batting her lashes, it took both Naruto and Sakura's combined efforts to calm him down. Even then it was barely enough to keep Sasuke from taking his sword and slicing her blond hair to ribbons. Or maybe her skin.

But then again, bloodstains were hard to clean off. Besides, Sasuke was pretty sure that Ino's hair was more important to her than her life.

Naruto got along with Shikamaru and Chōji pretty well when he wanted to. The three would sit behind and talk while the other three drifted off, alone. But most of Shikamaru's and Chōji's conversations were about stuff that Naruto had never even heard about. There really wasn't much he could contribute. Instead, he chose to practice the basics of cutting leaves with chakra that Asuma had taught him earlier.

The Academy days were gone.

* * *

It wasn't until their third day in Wave Country that they met the infamous Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Naruto, as planned, was stationed at Tazuna's house, hopefully alert and not dozing off against the tree trunk that he had been leaning on when they left. There were only five genin and two jōnin on the bridge as the mist gradually began to surround them and obscure their vision.

"Assume formation!" Kakashi immediately barked out, causing all of the shinobi to shift around and form a loose circle around Tazuna. "Our enemy's a _Suiton_ user. Expect some Water Release attacks."

Sakura's eyes widened and the hand she was holding her kunai with trembled as she saw the figures gathering around the circle, seeming to have appeared out of the mist without any warning.

Before anybody could move a muscle, Sasuke flung out a hand, reaching for his sword with his other hand. "They're _mine_. I can take on a couple of _Bunshin_ by myself."

"He's all yours, then," Kakashi said evenly, not even bothering to turn around as Sasuke moved impossibly fast, cutting up all seven clones effortlessly within seconds. There was nothing but a couple of water puddles on the ground by the time he was done.

"He destroyed all your _Mizu Bunshin_ , Zabuza-san," the masked figure said quietly as he and Zabuza emerged out of the mist, sounding slightly surprised.

"Do it, Haku," Zabuza muttered dismissively. "A couple of genin isn't enough to defeat us."

Sasuke could tell that the masked figure was smiling as he closed in on the small circle of genin.

* * *

Naruto was cutting up leaves.

He was sitting on one of the branches of the tree outside Tazuna's house. It wasn't very high up, but it was sturdy and the leaves helped conceal him from the sight of enemies. It wouldn't work against sensor types or higher-level shinobi, but it was enough to fool a regular chūnin or anything lower than that.

"Now," he murmured quietly to himself as he cut another leaf with a burst of chakra, "where are those heads I have to bash?"

The Wind Release training was going well. Naruto had managed to cut up the leaves quite easily after learning a trick from Kakashi. The man had taught him to create a dozen _Kage Bunshin_ before ordering them to all try to cut a leaf in half with chakra. With that, he managed to pick up the trick to it much more quickly.

Asuma had been pretty pleased with the improvement. He had taught Naruto a few lower-level technqiues, a couple C-ranks and a B-rank, that Naruto was itching to use in battle.

Patiently, he waited under the cover of the leaves. An opponent was bound to appear any time soon.

He waited until he finally sensed two chakra signatures coming in the direction of the house. Judging by their speed, they were obviously jumping from tree to tree, powering their leaps with chakra.

Smiling, Naruto reached into his pouch, pulling out a handful of shuriken. His aim wasn't as good as Sasuke, so he wasn't sure he could hit targets moving at this speed from far away. But he could definitely land in a few hits after they stopped outside the house.

If that failed, he still had those _Fūton_ techniques.

"So this is the house that we're supposed to ambush? It doesn't look as grand as I thought it would be," muttered one of the figures, reaching for the sword that was strapped to his waist with a smirk on his face. He had purple tattoos under his eyes.

"What do you think? Our target's a poor bridge builder's daughter and her son. Of course their place wouldn't be so grand," the other one wearing an eyepatch snapped, unsheathing the sword at his waist and pointing it at the house. "We just gotta storm it and kidnap 'em, right?"

The leaves ruffled as Naruto released the shuriken.

It took them too long to realize that there were two wicked-sharp spinning blades heading in their direction.

"Score," the blond muttered as one of the shuriken lodged into the Eyepatch's legs. Tattoo whirled around and glanced in the direction the shuriken had come from. "Who's there?"

Naruto, for once, was truly grateful at Kakashi for making him wear less noticeable colors. If he had been wearing his precious orange jumpsuit, his location would have been immediately given away.

 _"Fūton: Reppūshō!"_ Naruto whispered out, clapping his hands together.

A fierce gale went rushing in the two men's direction, effectively knocking them off their feet.

It was then that Naruto leapt out of the tree, landing gracefully with both feet on the ground. "Now, I heard you were going to kidnap Tsunami-san and Inari. I wonder if that will be possible when you're both knocked out cold on the ground."

Their eyes widened as he reached out, grabbed both of them by the shirts, and slammed their heads together.

"Mission complete."

Never had he ever been more grateful for Kakashi's Hell training. It was doing them quite a lot of good.

* * *

 _Author's Notes_

So I think this chapter is more on the longer side, which I'm proud of.

I've been procrastinating so far because I recently got into Kuroko no Basuke. And I kinda binge-watched everything over the past week, so I didn't have time to finish the chapter.

I apologize. *bows deeply*


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